Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco’s rape and abuse lawsuit against Marilyn Manson to proceed

Manson told to file formal response to each claim in lawsuit within 14 days

A US judge has allowed actor Esmé Bianco’s lawsuit accusing musician Marilyn Manson of sexual, physical and psychological abuse to proceed.

The judge dismissed Manson’s request to dismiss the Game of Thrones actor’s lawsuit on statute-of-limitations grounds.

Bianco dated the musician, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, in 2011 after meeting him on a music video set.

In her federal lawsuit filed in April, Bianco alleged that Manson inflicted cuts and bruises that left permanent scars on her body while they were living together. She also alleged that Manson chased her with an axe and would repeatedly play her sex scene in Game of Thrones to guests in order to humiliate her.

The judge ordered on Thursday 7 October that “a reasonable jury could find that the effects of Warner’s alleged unconscionable acts, including the perceived threat to plaintiff’s safety, immigration status, and career, persisted years after her last contact” with him, according to Deadline.

The judge directed the musician to file a formal response to each claim made in the lawsuit within 14 days.

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Manson’s lawyer Howard E King asked for the suit to be dismissed, claiming that Bianco’s claims “are provably false”.

“To be clear, this suit was only filed after my client refused to be shaken down by Ms Bianco and her lawyer and give in to their outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred. We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail,” Mr King added.

The Independent has contacted Manson’s representatives for comment.

Bianco first came forward against Manson in February this year, soon after Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood posted on Instagram that Manson had “horrifically” abused her, and that she was “brainwashed and manipulated into submission”.

Bianco starred in Manson’s Lewis Carroll-inspired film Phantasmagoria. Her work visa relied on the project, and she was worried that leaving Manson meant her visa privileges would cease to exist, so she stayed with him despite the abuse, she told The Cut in February.

“I think I would have made excuses for him,” Bianco told The Cut. “I was in survival mode at that point, and my brain had taught me to be small and agreeable... I basically felt like a prisoner. I came and went at his pleasure. Who I spoke to was completely controlled by him. I called my family hiding in the closet.”

Manson has denied the claims of abuse by various women, including Wood, and called them “horrible distortions of reality”.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247, or visit their website here.