Marilyn Manson Suffers Major Legal Loss Against Ex Evan Rachel Wood

Marilyn Manson has suffered a major legal loss in a lawsuit against his ex-wife, Evan Rachel Wood. According to Deadline, a California judge threw out many elements of the shock rocker’s defamation case against Wood. The lawsuit has been filed in the wake of Wood’s allegations that Manson was abusive toward her during their relationship. 

Manson — real name is Brian Warner — will be able to continue with his lawsuit, but much of the claims he was using against Wood will not be allowed in court. “We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling, which affirms and protects Evan’s exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights,” Wood’s lawyer Michael Kump told Deadline following the ruling. “As the Court correctly found, Plaintiff failed to show that his claims against her have even minimal merit.”

Manson’s team also issued a statement, with his attorney Howard King saying, “The ruling is disappointing but not unexpected. The Court telegraphed this outcome when it refused to consider the bombshell sworn declaration of former plaintiff Ashley Smithline, which detailed how women were systematically pressured by Evan Rachel Wood and Illma Gore to make false claims about Brian Warner.” King then added, “The failure to admit this critical evidence, along with the Court’s decision to not consider Ms. Gore’s iPad, the contents of which demonstrated how she and Ms. Wood crafted a forged FBI letter, will be the subject of an immediate appeal to the California Court of Appeal.”

Notably, earlier this year, Smithline formally recanted her sexual assault claims against Manson. In a statement, Smithline alleged that she was “manipulated” by Wood and her girlfriend Ilma Gore. Smithline had previously  claimed that Manson assaulted her and carved his initials into her skin, but she now claims that never happened.

“During my conversations with Ms. Wood, she described acts allegedly committed by Mr. Warner against Ms. Wood and other supposed victims and asked me whether the same things happened to me,” Smithline said in a legal declaration, published by Pitchfork. I remember she asked me whether I had been, among other things, whipped, chained, tied up, branded/cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or raped. She said all of these things happened to Ms. Wood and others, and that when Ms. Wood was with Mr. Warner every moment was a moment of survival. When I said, no this did not happen to me and this was not my experience, I recall being told by Ms. Wood that just because I could not remember did not necessarily mean that it did not happen.” Click here to read the full legal statement.

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