Marilyn Manson drops lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood
LOS ANGELES — Rocker Marilyn Manson has agreed to drop a lawsuit against his former fiancee, “Westworld” actor Evan Rachel Woodand to pay her attorneys’ fees, attorneys for both sides said Tuesday.
The move comes 18 months after a Los Angeles County judge ruled threw away much of the 2022 pack in which Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, alleged that Wood had fabricated public allegations that he sexually and physically abused her during their relationship and encouraged other women to make up their own accusations.
“After four years of fighting to tell the truth, Brian is pleased to dismiss his pending claims and file an appeal to close the door on this chapter of his life,” Manson attorney Howard King said in a statement. a statement. statement.
Manson had appealed the judge’s decision, but his lawyers contacted Wood in the spring to reach a settlement. Wood’s attorneys said Tuesday that she has denied requests to keep the terms confidential.
Manson “filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to attempt to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career,” Wood’s attorney Michael J. Kump said in a statement. “But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed.”
Manson agreed to pay nearly $327,000 in attorney fees for Wood.
The settlement comes almost four years later criminal investigation into 55-year-old Manson involving multiple women remains unsolved. Retiring LA County District Attorney George Gascón said in October that his office’s sex crimes unit had just discovered new evidence and that a decision on whether to file charges would be made once the picture was more complete.
The women involved in the criminal case have not yet been identified, but ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Esme Bianco has said she was among them, and criticized the prosecutor for taking so long to investigate. Bianco settled her own lawsuit against Manson last year.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Wood and Bianco have done.
Manson has denied engaging in non-consensual sex acts.
In 2017, as the #MeToo movement gained momentum, Wood publicly said she had been raped and abused, and provided testimony on the subject before a congressional committee in 2018, but did not name anyone in either case.
Then, in a 2020 Instagram post, Wood said it was Manson who “horrifically abused me for years.” The two revealed they were a couple in 2007, and were briefly engaged in 2010 before splitting.
Manson’s original lawsuit alleged that Wood and another woman, Ashley Gore, also known as Illma Gore in the lawsuits, had defamed him, deliberately caused him emotional distress and derailed his career in music, TV and film . It says they used false pretenses, including a fake letter from the FBI, to convince other women to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse and coach them on what to say. The suit stated that Wood had only positive things to say about Manson during their relationship.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet dismissed the portion of the lawsuit involving the disputed FBI letter, which Wood denied was forged. Beaudet also threw out a section alleging that Wood and Gore used a checklist on an iPad that other women could use to make abuse claims about Manson.
Other parts of the lawsuit were left standing because they were not covered by Wood’s motion, including allegations that Gore hacked into Manson’s email, phone and social media accounts, created a fake email to steal evidence that he was sending illegal pornography, and had ‘beat him along’. using a prank call to send authorities to his home.
Gore reached her own agreement with Manson to dismiss the lawsuit. A message to her lawyers seeking comment was not immediately returned.