Billy Corgan Defends 30-Year Friendship With Marilyn Manson

During a new podcast appearance, the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan defended his 30-year friendship with Marilyn Manson despite all of the allegations that have been made against the musician over the last several years.

Corgan was featured as a guest on the podcast Popcast, which is owned by The New York Times. During the conversation, he talked about some of his longtime friendships and one of the hosts noted that he and Manson have attended each others’ birthday parties in recent years and asked how he determines whether to stay involved with people who’ve been accused of sexual assault and violence.

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“That’s a valid question and I think that ultimately as a Christian person… you have to stand by your friends, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opinion and that doesn’t mean you’re not critical,” Corgan responded.

“In [Manson’s] case — and I’m not here to adjudicate it — but the DA looked at the case for five years. In some cases, I knew personal things behind the scenes that are not in the public sphere. I personally didn’t feel that he was guilty of the things he was being charged with and ultimately the fact that the DA didn’t pursue it.”

Corgan said he felt that the decision on the cases matched up with what he knew about Manson, but acknowledged that he wasn’t present during the alleged abuse and so he doesn’t know everything that happened behind closed doors.

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The rocker further asserted that he doesn’t want to be told by others who he should associate with, especially when it’s a friendship that goes back nearly three decades. And not only did they become friends 30 years ago but they have an even closer connection now, as Manson’s wife Lindsay Usich (married in 2020) is James Iha’s wife Ashley’s twin sister.

“I think anybody in that situation struggles with the accusations [and] the seriousness of the accusations. But again, I also knew the inside baseball of the case, I knew certain people who are involved and so you make those evaluations,” Corgan continued.

“At the end of the day, I feel I made the right determination. But if things had come out — people would ask me privately, ‘Well what happens if?’ And I’d say, ‘If he’s guilty or if anybody in that situation’s guilty, they should go to jail.'”

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After Corgan concluded his response, the other host asked whether that means the rocker is willing to “cut off” people in his circle if they are proven guilty of heinous acts.

“I don’t like the word ‘cut off.’ Because again, I’m a Christian so there is a longstanding tradition in American life of rehabilitation and forgiveness,” Corgan said and then brought up the recent Lindsay Clancy trial and the fact that her husband forgave her for murdering their three children.

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“I can’t imagine that decision,” he continued. “So I’m not saying I have any moral supremacy here, I’m saying it’s a case-by-case basis. But this kind of witch mob thing bothers me. I think we all struggle with how to go through life and make those determinations.”

Corgan also mentioned that his father had been to jail on a few separate occasions and had stolen from him, using the example to further his point that not every situation is black and white.

See the interview below.