Marilyn Manson Files Defamation Case Against Sexual Abuse Accuser Evan Rachel Wood

American singer-songwriter Marilyn Manson took actress Evan Rachel Wood to court for defamation over her sexual abuse allegations against him, which he claimed as malicious and false. According to variety in the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Manson, whose actual name is Brian Warner, he alleges that Wood and “her on-again, off-again romantic partner” Ashley Gore have “publicly cast” him as a “rapist and abuser”.

He claimed that this was a “malicious” falsehood that has derailed Warner's successful music, TV and film career. The filing further stated that Wood and Gore impersonated an FBI agent "by forging and distributing a fictitious letter from the agent, to create the false appearance that Warner's alleged 'victims' and their families were in danger and that there was a federal criminal out there. It also alleged that Wood and Gore "provided checklists and scripts" to accusers and "made knowingly false statements," including that Goog Manson "filmed the sexual assault of Nas minor."

Manson has requested a jury trial and is also alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress. In an Instagram post made at the time, Wood wrote, “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner also known to the world as Marilyn Manson. He started grooming abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulates into submission (sic).”

She added, “I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him before he runs any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent (sic).”

In the document, Wood also claimed that Manson raped her on the set of the music video for his 2007 single ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses’. She had alleged that during a previously discussed “simulated sex scene" he “started penetrating me for real,” once the cameras were rolling. “I had never agreed to that,” said Wood.

Manson’s lawsuit against Wood comes on the heels of her documentary ‘Phoenix Rising’ on HBO on March 15.