Marilyn Manson’s Motion to Dismiss Sexual Assault Lawsuit Denied

Game of Thrones star Esmé Bianco’s sexual assault lawsuit against musician Marilyn Manson will continue after a federal judge denied his motion to dismiss on Thursday. Manson’s attorneys argued that Bianco’s allegations were too old under California’s statute of limitations, but Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha wrote that Manson’s alleged acts made an impact on Bianco that has continued long since they last had contact, reports USA Today. Bianco filed her lawsuit against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, in April.

In her civil lawsuit, Bianco accused Manson of physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse on multiple occasions between 2009 and 2013. Bianco also accused him of breaking the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act when he offered Bianco employment in Los Angeles since Bianco was a U.K. citizen at the time, reports the Los Angeles Times. Manson’s attorney, John Snow, filed the motion to dismiss the sexual assault and sexual battery allegations in July because of California’s statute of limitations. However, Aenlle-Rocha rejected the motion. “A reasonable jury could find that the effects of Warner’s alleged unconscionable acts, including the perceived threat to Plaintiff’s safety, immigration status, and career, persisted years after her last contact with Warner,” the judge ruled.

“Today’s ruling, which allows Ms. Bianco’s case to move forward in its entirety, underscores that threats and coercion cannot be used by defendants as both a shield and a sword,” Bianco’s attorney, Jay Ellwanger, said in a statement to the Times. Bianco added that her hope is the ruling “empowers other survivors to pursue justice for themselves while signaling to abusers that they cannot bully victims into silence.”

Manson’s attorneys did not comment on the ruling. In the motion to dismiss, they called Bianco’s allegations “untrue, meritless, and a key component of a coordinated attack.” He has also denied other allegations against him. “Obviously my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy,” he wrote in a statement on Instagram earlier this year. “But these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”

Bianco, 39, is one of several women to accuse Manson of abusive behavior, including Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood and his former assistant, Ashley Walters. Bianco, who played Ros in 14 Game of Thrones episodes, came forward in February interviews with The Cut and Good Morning America. She met Manson on the set of his 2009 video “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies” and felt “like a prisoner” when she moved to Manson’s West Hollywood home in 2011. She claimed she lived with Manson for two months and felt dehumanized during that time. She claimed Manson chased her with an ax around the apartment before she left in May 2011. Since then, she has faced panic attacks and lived in a state of fear that has affected her career, Bianco said. 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.