Rockstar Marilyn Manson is suing his ex-fiancee, actress Evan Rachel Wood, over the ‘malicious falsehood’ of the abuse allegations she made against him and alleges she ‘derailed his successful music, TV and film career’.
Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday morning, which was obtained by DailyMail.com.
The suit accuses Wood and her ‘on-again, off-again romantic partner’ artist Illma Gore, real name Ashley Gore, of impersonating an FBI agent to distribute a forged letter to ‘create the false appearance’ that Manson’s alleged victims and their families were in danger.
The performer also claims Wood and Gore created a fake email address to make it look as if Manson, 53, sent her ‘illicit pornography’.
The complaint also states that Wood – whom she was accused of abuse and sexual assault – and Gore provided checklists and scripts listing specific acts of abuse for prospective accusers to claim against Manson, including that he filmed the sexual assault of a minor.
Wood, 34, has previously said Manson ‘brainwashed and manipulated into submission’ and that he ‘started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years.’ She also claimed the musician ‘coerced [her] into a commercial sex act under false pretenses’ and ‘essentially raped [her] on-camera’.
She is expected to outline the allegations of abuse an upcoming two-part HBO documentary called Phoenix Rising set to air next month.
Marilyn Manson (left) is suing his ex-fiancee, Evan Rachel Wood (right), for defamation, emotional distress and ‘impersonation over the internet,’ among other charges over the abuse allegations she made against him
Manson is suing Wood for defamation, emotional distress and ‘impersonation over the internet,’ among other charges and seeks damages of an unspecified amount ‘to be determined at trial,’ as well as ‘an order enjoining Wood and Gore from engaging in further wrongful conduct’ towards him.
The complaint also accused Gore of attempting to hack into Manson’s computer, phone and email account.
He also claims the artist ‘swatted’ him by sending police to look into him under false pretenses after Wood came forward with her abuse allegations.
‘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,’ Manson’s attorney, Howard King, told DailyMail.com in a statement Wednesday.
‘It’s incredibly important to differentiate between the character of ‘Marilyn Manson’ and the man Brian Warner.’
King 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.
The complaint alleges Wood’s claims that Manson is a ‘rapist and abuser’ are a ‘malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career’. The former couple is pictured together in September 2007
Wood in 2018 appeared in front of Congress in support of the nationwide implementation of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Acts, delivering testimony about past sexual abuse she had suffered without naming Manson at the time.
The Westworld star was linked with Manson from 2006 until 2011. In the first installment of Phoenix Rising, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, she said that the Beautiful People artist had violated her in 2007 during the filming of his music video Heart-Shaped Glasses.
The actress claimed she and Manson had discussed filming a ‘simulated sex scene’ and instead the performer ‘started penetrating [her] for real’ once the cameras started rolling. She stated: ‘I had never agreed to that.’
Wood also said she was ‘scared’ to expose Manson’s alleged wrongdoings, and that it had taken her a ‘really long time’ to cease blaming herself for what had happened.
King last month issued a statement denying Wood’s accusations about the video shoot.
‘Evan was not only fully coherent and engaged during the three-day shoot but also heavily involved in weeks of pre-production planning and days of post-production editing of the final cut. The simulated sex scene took several hours to shoot with multiple takes using different angles and several long breaks in between camera setups.’
Manson has been accused by at least 15 women of sexual assault, and has denied all claims, saying they are ‘horrible distortions of reality.’
