Billy Corgan says he doesn't believe Marilyn Manson is guilty

Marilyn Manson, a rock musician, was facing serious abuse allegations. But his friend of nearly three decades, Billy Corgan, does not believe the allegations against him are untrue.

In an interview with the Popcast podcast, the frontman of the rock band Smashing Pumpkins said, “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."

“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… the person that I knew and the way it all kind of went down, even though it was an elongated process, was commensurate with the person that I knew.”

He added, “I don’t want the world to tell me who my friends are and who I should associate with. That’s politically or socially. In Brian’s case, we have a relationship that goes back close to 30 years. So Manson’s basically a part of our family."

“Anybody in that situation struggles with the accusations, the seriousness of the accusations. But again, I also knew the inside baseball of the case," Corgan continued.

"I knew certain people who were involved, and so you make those evaluations. If he’s guilty, or anybody in that situation is guilty, they should go to jail."

"I’m not saying I have any moral supremacy here. I’m saying it’s a case-by-case basis. This kind of witch mob thing bothers me," Corgan concluded.