Marilyn Manson faces new sexual abuse lawsuit
A new lawsuit filed in Long Island, New York, has accused metal singer Marilyn Manson of “childhood and adult sexual abuse, sexual battery, assault, and molestation”. The suit comes from a currently anonymous plaintiff, who claimed that Manson (real name Brian Warner) committed the acts when the plaintiff was 16 years old.
The new lawsuit comes just days after Manson reached a settlement with actress Esmé Bianco over her own lawsuit from April of 2021. In that suit, Bianco had accused Manson of rape and sexual battery.
Manson has faced at least 15 different accusations of assault and sexual abuse over the last three years. Actress Evan Rachel Wood, who dated Manson on and off since 2007, added her voice to the growing calls to investigate Manson’s alleged abuse, citing her own experiences with Manson as matching up with various accounts.
“I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail,” Wood said when coming forward with her allegations in 2021. “I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”
Through a statement provided by his lawyer, Manson “vehemently denies any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse of anyone”. Manson had previously sued Wood for defamation and emotional distress in response to her allegations.
The new lawsuit has been made possible by the New York Adult Survivors Act. Having been signed by New York governor Kathy Hochul, the act gives alleged sexual assault victims a specific window of time in which to sue regardless of when the crime allegedly occurred. Since the new lawsuit pertains to alleged events that occurred in 1995, the case would not have been eligible to be tried before the act since it would have been past the statute of limitations.
The lawsuit accuses Manson of “using his role, status, and power as an adult and performer in the music industry to gain access to, groom, manipulate, and exploit [the plaintiff], resulting in sexual assault in two separate incidents. Then, in 1999 when plaintiff was approximately 19 years old, defendant Warner perpetuated his grooming, manipulation, exploitation, and sexual assault of plaintiff over the course of approximately four weeks.”
The suit also names Nothing Records and its distributor, Interscope Music Publishing, as co-defendants due to their alleged awareness of the acts. The suit claims that Manson’s “pedophilic obsessions and violent behaviors were not only known by defendants Interscope and Nothing Records, but they were celebrated and promoted for their collective financial gain”.
Marilyn Manson has yet to respond to the allegations.
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