Katherine Ryan has launched a savage attack on Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, branding him an ‘a***hole’ over his comments about his much younger wife and his defence of Marilyn Manson.The comedian, 43, accused the rocker, 59, of wanting a younger woman without the emotional ‘damage’ of women his own age after he claimed his 26-year age gap with wife Chloé Mendel, 33, had been an ‘advantage’ to their relationship.Billy recently sparked controversy by suggesting women of his generation had been left ‘broken’ by their experiences, while his wife had not suffered the same emotional wounds.Lashing out on her Telling Everybody Everything podcast, Katherine declared: ‘Who’s damaging women of your generation, Billy Corgan? You and all your friends.’She continued: ‘There’s only room for, like, your trauma and your wife needs to be this young, untarnished accessory whose first experience with being broken is from you.’The Canadian star said she was baffled by Billy’s decision to make the comments publicly, adding: ‘You don’t have to cancel yourself. Like, what in the world made him be like, I’m going to tell everyone, I’m going to speak.’ Katherine Ryan has launched a savage attack on Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, branding him an ‘a***hole’ over his comments about his much younger wifeBilly, who married fashion designer Chloé in 2023, made the remarks on The New York Times’ Popcast last week.The couple met in 2012, when he was 44 and she was just 19, and have three children together.Explaining why he believed their age difference had worked in their favour, Billy said he had met ‘a lot of broken women’ before finding love with Chloé.He suggested women of his generation had experienced abuse and hardship without adequate support, making relationships difficult when both partners were carrying emotional wounds.Billy insisted there was nothing wrong with those women, but said Chloé’s youth had been an advantage because she ‘hadn’t been wounded like so many people are’.Katherine was unimpressed by his explanation.She said: ‘It’s just so f***ed up to say, like, wow, the women my own age were damaged by me and my friends. So I definitely had to start dating someone who was 19. Okay, hun.’The comedian also took aim at Billy’s continued friendship with Marilyn Manson, 57, who has faced allegations of sexual assault and abuse from multiple women.Billy defended the singer during the same interview, saying he had known him for almost 30 years and did not personally believe he was guilty of the allegations.He said that, as a Christian, he believed in standing by his friends, although that did not mean he could not criticise them.But Katherine responded: ‘Yeah, because Marilyn Manson is likely not going to be assaulting you.’She added: ‘Are you with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week?’ The rocker, 59, has claimed his 26-year age gap with wife Chloé Mendel, 33, had been an ‘advantage’ to their relationship (pictured in 2024)She went on to explain how her own experiences had taught her that men could behave very differently towards female romantic partners than they did towards their friends.Katherine revealed she had ended a close friendship with a famous unnamed man after becoming increasingly uncomfortable with his treatment of women.She said: ‘There were little signs, little, little signs, where he would show me some texts or some interactions that he had with romantic partners. And I thought, well, hang on a minute. Like, you’re the bad guy in this situation.’She explained that further details of his behaviour later emerged publicly, although she stressed she was not aware of him having done anything illegal.Katherine admitted her initial instinct had been to defend him, but she ultimately decided to distance herself.She said: ‘People present different versions of themselves to different people.’The comedian continued: ‘My first reflex was to defend him, be like, well, hang on a minute. But then I was like, no. And I’m glad that I just stepped away from that friendship.’She returned to Billy’s defence of Marilyn, saying: ‘It is f***ing wild for a man in the Smashing Pumpkins to be like, I think Marilyn Manson’s great.’Marilyn, whose real name is Brian Warner, has denied allegations of sexual assault and abuse.In January 2025, Los Angeles prosecutors announced they would not bring criminal charges following a four-year investigation, saying the domestic violence allegations were outside the statute of limitations and sexual assault charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.Katherine also revisited Billy’s long-standing reputation for being difficult, citing criticism from former bandmates and other musicians.She declared: ‘You’re an a**hole… Even if you were super wildly successful today, you would not get away with being mean. Nobody likes mean anymore. Be f***ing professional.’