More than a year after Evan Rachel Wood accused Marilyn Manson of sexual abuse, the 53-year-old musician is taking legal action against her for, he claims, allegedly creating an elaborate scheme to manufacture all of the accusations against him.
As you may recall, the 34-year-old actress was one of many people who came forward with claims of sexual abuse against the singer last year. Wood, who dated Manson between 2007 and 2010, claimed in an Instagram post that he had “started grooming [her] when [she] was a teenager and horrifically abused [her] for years.”
Several other women came forward with similar accusations of traumatic and horrific incidents, which he has since denied.
He also faces multiple lawsuits from those who claim he raped, assaulted, and trafficked them – including Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco, his former assistant Ashley Walters, model Ashley Morgan Smithline, and an unnamed accuser. And in the new documentary Phoenix Rising, Wood claimed she was “essentially raped” by Manson while working on his 2007 music video for the song Heart-Shaped Glasses.
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After everything, it looks like Manson is suing Wood for defamation…
According to Deadline, the rocker’s attorney Howard E. King filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday and alleged that Wood and her “on-again, off-again romantic partner” Ashley Gore concocted an entire scheme in order to “publicly cast” him “as a rapist and abuser — a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.” The lawsuit goes on to detail shocking claims in which Wood and Gore allegedly planned to take him down between 2019 and 2021.
The twosome teamed up to start the Phoenix Act, a nonprofit that was supposed to help women who have been abused. But according to Manson, it was a cover for Wood and Gore to make money for their plan. The pair then allegedly sought out the artist’s past romantic partners to learn about any experiences they had in common with Wood. When some reached out, TMZ reports the suit stated that Wood and Gore allegedly convinced the women they had been abused by Manson by arguing they repressed the memory of their trauma. Manson claims they even “provided checklists and scripts to prospective accusers, listing the specific alleged acts of abuse that they should claim against Warner.” The lawsuit continued, per Deadline:
“They made knowingly false statements to prospective accusers (which have since been repeated by those accusers in court filings), including the defamatory claim that Warner filmed the sexual assault of a minor.”
Perhaps what’s more shocking is that the pair allegedly impersonated an FBI agent to make it seem like there was an ongoing federal investigation into his alleged crimes. The suit claims they sent “a fictitious letter from the agent” to the women who later made allegations against Manson, making it seem like they were in danger. Per TMZ, the singer claims Wood and Gore forged the agent’s signature and distributed it to the alleged victims and media in order to make the accusations seem credible. Manson claimed the real FBI agent later confirmed she never penned it.
The suit also claims that Wood and Gore hacked into the performer’s computer and social media, and “created a fictitious email account to manufacture purported evidence that Warner was emailing illicit pornography.” On top of all that, Gore allegedly posed as a concerned friend and sent police to look into an “emergency” involving him last February. Wait, what?? These claims are wild.
As reported by TMZ, Manson wants an unspecified amount in damages and a court order blocking Wood and Gore from continuing their alleged plot. His attorney told Deadline in a statement on Wednesday:
“We’re filing this now because we have been able to gather an overwhelming trove of evidence – including both documents and witness statements – which proves that the stories that Evan Rachel Wood and her co-conspirator Illma Gore have been falsifying and spreading are both vindictive and demonstrably untrue. It’s incredibly important to differentiate between the character of ‘Marilyn Manson’ and the man Brian Warner.”
The lawyer then added:
“Wood’s claims may resonate because of the intentionally ‘shocking’ character of ‘Marilyn Manson’ but they simply do not reflect the truth. The manufactured facts these conspirators scripted a decade after the event never happened.”
Neither Wood nor Gore have responded to the lawsuit and accusations at this time.
We can’t help but wonder if Marilyn Manson decided to go this route because his friend Johnny Depp sued his own abuse accuser for defamation? Regardless, Manson has several women accusing him of abuse, and the claim that they would all be willing to risk everything to lie smells pretty damn s**tty if you ask us… but what do YOU think?
Reactions to Manson’s claims, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via Sheri Determan/WENN, WENN/Avalon]
The post Marilyn Manson SUING Evan Rachel Wood Over Abuse Allegations! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
