Earlier this week, shock rocker Marilyn Manson filed a lawsuit against actress Evan Rachel Wood for emotional distress, defamation, computer fraud and impersonation over the internet. His case argues that Wood and artist Illma Gore created a conspiracy using fraud in order to defame him and profit from it. Manson’s attorney Howard King, responding to Wood’s claim of abuse on the set of Manson’s “Heart Shaped Glasses” video, said the singer “did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth.” In February of 2021, Wood claimed that Manson abused her and several other women. Manson was dropped from his record label and by his agent. He also lost TV roles, and the LAPD conducted a wellness check on him at his home.
On Thursday, Manson shared a short Instagram statement regarding his newly-filed lawsuit. He also uploaded a full copy of it to Google Drive and pasted the link in his account bio. “There will come a time when I can share more about the events of the past year,” Manson wrote in his post. “Until then, I’m going to let the facts speak for themselves: [link in bio].”
The documents filed Wednesday state: “This action arises from the wrongful and illegal acts done in furtherance of a conspiracy by Defendant Evan Rachel Wood and her on-again, off-again romantic partner, Defendant Ashley Gore, a/k/a Illma Gore, to publicly cast Plaintiff Brian Warner, p/k/a Marilyn Manson, as a rapist and abuser—a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.”
The lawsuit also said that Wood and Manson’s relationship from 2006 to 2010 was described by Wood as “healthy” and “loving.” “This is who I am and this is who I’ve always wanted to be, and I’m finally with somebody who lets me be who I want to be,” Wood is quoted as having said. It also says Wood didn’t accuse Manson of abuse until a decade after their relationship ended. Previously, Manson posted on Instagram: “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, 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.”
An HBO documentary featuring Wood, “Phoenix Rising,” recently premiered at the Sundance film festival. In the doc, Wood alleges “traumatizing” abuse by Manson and that she was “coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses” while filming the 2007 video for “Heart Shaped Glasses.”
