Marilyn Manson drops Evan Rachel Wood lawsuit
Marilyn Manson has dropped the lawsuit he filed against accuser Evan Rachel Wood, and abandoned a related appeal that sought to revive his previous defamation claim. The shock metal artist has also agreed to pay $327,000 in Wood’s attorneys’ fees.
In August of this year, Manson, real name Brian Warner, submitted a 92-page document appealing a decision made by a judge to dismiss parts of his defamation and emotional distress lawsuit against actor Wood. Warner first initiated legal action against Wood and her friend, Ilma Gore, in 2022, just over a year after Wood accused him of sexual abuse and grooming her as a teenager in a 2021 Instagram post.
Following Wood’s claims, more than a dozen women came forward with sexual abuse allegations about Warner, including Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco, who criticised the prosecutors’ handling of the case. The musician denies all wrongdoing, but in October, it was reported that new leads are being assessed in the case.
In his lawsuit countering Wood’s claims, Warner asserted Wood and Gore had “engaged in a malicious campaign to harm” him. In May 2023, a judge dismissed a significant portion of his claims against the pair. He was also ordered to pay them close to $500,000 to cover their legal fees. In August this year, it was reported that he was looking to appeal the decision.
A crucial part of Warner’s appeal centres on a letter from an alleged FBI agent that his legal team claims was forged to “create the false appearance that Warner was under FBI investigation and his ‘victims’ were in danger.”
In a statement, Wood’s attorney, Michael Kump, denied the allegation, saying it rehashed the same baseless claims that the judge threw out in court. The appeal also claims the judge disregarded testimony from Ashley Morgan Smithline, who accused Warner of misconduct but now claims she “succumbed to pressure” from Wood and that she made “untrue” allegations. Wood also denies these claims.
It was reported that the judge didn’t consider Smithline’s testimony because it wasn’t submitted following the deadline. Regardless, in May 2023, a judge dismissed the part of the lawsuit that involved the FBI letter, and another that claimed Wood and Gore created a checklist for other women to use to accuse Warner of abuse.
What are the new developments involving the Evan Rachel Wood and Marilyn Manson lawsuits?
Explaining what has now happened with Warner dropping the lawsuit he filed against Wood in 2022 and abandoning the related appeal wanting to resurrect his previous defamation claim, Wood’s attorneys Kump, Shawn Holley and Katherine Kleindienst of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP have provided a statement to Rolling Stone.
They noted that Warner wanted to settle the lawsuit earlier in the year, and at the same time, he appealed the judge’s rulings. His initial offer was to pay a portion of Wood’s fees in return for keeping the settlement confidential and releasing an agreed-upon statement. Wood rejected this offer, though, with her representatives saying she didn’t want to agree to these terms. Subsequently, he settled on dropping his suit against her and paying her full legal fees.
“Marilyn Manson — whose real name is Brian Warner — filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career. But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed,” a representative of Wood’s asserts in a statement. “As the trial court correctly found, Warner’s claims were meritless. Warner’s decision to finally abandon his lawsuit and pay Ms. Wood her full fee award of almost $327,000 only confirms as much.”
“After four years of fighting a battle where he was able to tell the truth, Brian is pleased to dismiss his still-pending claims and appeal in order to close the door on this chapter of his life,” Warner’s attorney, Howard King, also told the publication.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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