Marilyn Manson accuses Evan Rachel Wood of defamation in new lawsuit

Actor accused her former partner of abuse last year and is releasing a forthcoming documentary that addresses the allegations

Marilyn Manson has filed a lawsuit against his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood, alleging that she and her partner defamed him in order to destroy his career.

The “shock-rock” artist, 53, claims that actor Wood, 34, and artist Illma Gore made sexual abuse allegations against him for profit, in addition to hacking his social media accounts and computers.

Manson, real name Brian Warner, filed his complaint to the Los Angeles Superior Court and is seeking a jury trial, US media reports.

The complaint reads: “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 Westworld actor has accused Manson of sexually, physically and emotionally abusing her over the course of their relationship.

In Wood’s forthcoming documentary, Phoenix Rising, she alleges that Manson “essentially raped” her while filming the music video for his 2007 single “Heart-Shaped Glasses”.

Manson’s lawyer, Howard King, told The Independent in January: “Of all the false claims that Evan Rachel Wood has made about Brian Warner, her imaginative retelling of the making of the ‘Heart-Shaped Glasses’ music video 15 years ago is the most brazen and easiest to disprove, because there were multiple witnesses.

“Brian did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth.”

Wood met Warner in 2005, when she was 18 and Manson was 38. They became engaged in 2010 but called off their relationship a few months later.

The US actress has a lawsuit on her hands as well as a high-profile split

Further in the complaint, King describes Gore as “a grifter who understood that an organised attack on Warner — spearheaded by Wood’s own fabricated revelation of rape and abuse – could benefit them both”.

“With Gore’s help, Wood could be rebranded, from someone who ‘still might best be known for dating Marilyn Manson a decade ago’, into an outspoken standard bearer for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault — thereby absolving her reputation for having a ‘wild past’ and her embarrassment for having been in a long-term relationship with Marilyn Manson,” he said.

King also alleges that Wood and Gore “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously with allegations of rape and abuse” for profit.

The Independent has reached out to Wood’s and Gore’s representatives for comment.

Investigations into allegations Manson began last year, after the LA County Sheriff’s Department received reports of domestic violence and sexual assault between 2009 and 2011.

In November 2021, officers searched Manson’s home and seized media storage devices, among other items.

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.

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.