Marilyn Manson Controversy: Lawsuits, No Charges, and Denial

The abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson began in February 2021, when actor Evan Rachel Wood publicly named the musician, born Brian Hugh Warner, as the man who had groomed and abused her. More than 15 women ultimately came forward with accounts of sexual assault, physical violence, and psychological abuse. A four-year Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigation ended in January 2025 without criminal charges, and most of the civil lawsuits have settled, been dismissed, or been dropped. One case — a revived suit by former personal assistant Ashley Walters — remains active.¹

Who Accused Manson and What They Alleged

On February 1, 2021, Wood wrote in an Instagram post that Manson “started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years” and that she had been “brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”² Their relationship had become public in 2007, when Wood was 19 and Manson was 38. They became engaged in 2010 and separated shortly after.

Wood had spent years building toward naming him. She testified before Congress in 2018 as a domestic abuse survivor, and in 2019 she addressed a California legislative panel while advocating for the Phoenix Act, a bill extending the statute of limitations for domestic violence felonies from three to five years. The Phoenix Act, sponsored by State Senator Susan Rubio, was signed into law in 2019.³

Within days of Wood’s post, other women came forward. Esmé Bianco, an actor who dated Manson for roughly two years, alleged verbal abuse, sleep and food deprivation, biting, cutting, electrocution, and rape. She also alleged he chased her with an ax and violated human trafficking laws by luring her from London to Los Angeles with false promises of film and music video roles.⁴

Ashley Walters, a former personal assistant, alleged sexual assault, harassment, and battery during her employment from 2010 to 2011. Ashley Morgan Smithline alleged rape, whipping, cutting, and imprisonment, though she later recanted. Other women — including musician Phoebe Bridgers, Wolf Alice singer Ellie Rowsell, and actor Charlyne Yi — made public accusations ranging from sexual harassment to voyeurism.

Multiple accusers described a similar pattern. Manson would use flattery and dark humor to build trust, then introduce drugs, alcohol, and escalating physical and sexual abuse. Several women described being locked in a soundproof vocal booth in his apartment, referred to as the “Bad Girls’ Room,” as punishment for perceived transgressions.⁴ In total, more than 15 women have accused Manson of physical or sexual abuse.⁵

The Music Video Rape Allegation

HBO’s 2022 documentary Phoenix Rising, directed by Amy Berg, carried one of the most specific allegations against Manson. Wood alleged that during the 2007 filming of the music video for “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand),” she and Manson had agreed to a simulated sex scene, but once cameras rolled, “he started penetrating me for real.” She said she was fed absinthe on set and was “barely conscious,” describing the incident as being “essentially raped on camera.”⁶

At least one anonymous crew member corroborated the account, telling Rolling Stone, “I do believe that there were some moments of actual intercourse,” and adding that the shoot was eventually shut down over the sex scenes.⁷

Manson’s attorney, Howard King, called the allegation “the most brazen and easiest to disprove,” stating that “Brian did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth.” King said the scene was simulated, took several hours to shoot across multiple takes and angles, and that Wood was “fully coherent and engaged” throughout.⁸

The documentary also included diary entries, audio recordings, and video in which Manson allegedly threatened to “hurt, maim, rape, and kill” Wood.

No Criminal Charges

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau opened an investigation in February 2021, focusing on reports of domestic violence and sexual assault between 2009 and 2011 in West Hollywood.⁵ In November 2021, detectives served a search warrant at Manson’s home. Bianco reported providing “hundreds of pieces of evidence,” including photographs of injuries, emails, text messages, and evidence of threats to her immigration status.⁹

On January 24, 2025, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced that no criminal charges would be filed. Hochman stated that the domestic violence allegations fell outside the statute of limitations and that prosecutors could not prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.¹⁰ The DA thanked the women who cooperated with the investigation for their “patience.”¹¹

It was the second time the LA DA’s office had declined to pursue charges. In 2018, prosecutors passed on a sex crimes case involving a 2011 incident, citing an expired statute of limitations and an absence of corroboration.¹²

Where the Civil Lawsuits Stand

Esmé Bianco

Bianco filed a federal lawsuit against Manson and Marilyn Manson Records, Inc. in April 2021 in the Central District of California, alleging sexual assault, sexual battery, and violations of California’s human trafficking laws. Manson’s attorneys sought dismissal on statute-of-limitations grounds, but Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha denied the motion in October 2021. The parties reached an out-of-court settlement in January 2023 with undisclosed terms. Bianco’s attorney, Jay D. Ellwanger, said she agreed to resolve the claims “in order to move on with her life and career.”¹³

Ashley Walters

Walters filed a lawsuit in May 2021 alleging sexual assault, sexual battery, and harassment during her employment with Manson from 2010 to 2011. A court dismissed the case in May 2022 on statute-of-limitations grounds. An appeals court revived it in December 2023 based on claims involving repressed memory. It was then dismissed again in December 2025 as untimely.¹⁴

On January 1, 2026, California Assembly Bill 250 took effect. The law, authored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 13, 2025, opens a two-year window from 2026 through 2027 for adult survivors of sexual assault to file civil claims that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.¹⁵ Walters filed a motion for reconsideration, and on January 26, 2026, LA Superior Court Judge Steve Cochran vacated the December 2025 dismissal and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.¹ A case management conference was scheduled for March 27, 2026. Manson’s attorney, Howard King, said the revived case is limited to a “narrow claim of sexual assault” and expressed doubt it would survive a future motion for summary judgment.¹⁶

Jane Doe

In January 2023, a plaintiff identified as “Jane Doe” filed a lawsuit in Nassau County, New York, alleging that Manson groomed and sexually assaulted her in 1995 when she was 16. The suit, brought under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, alleged sexual assault on a tour bus and at a subsequent event in New Orleans. It named Interscope Music Publishing and Nothing Records as co-defendants for allegedly enabling Manson’s behavior.¹⁷ Manson’s attorney said his client did not know the plaintiff and denied any intimate contact. The case was reported as settled in September 2023.¹⁴

Ashley Morgan Smithline

Smithline’s 2021 federal lawsuit, which alleged sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment, was dismissed in January 2023 after her attorney withdrew and she failed to obtain new counsel. One month later, she filed a sworn declaration in Manson’s defamation case against Wood, recanting her allegations entirely. She stated that she “succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against Mr. Warner that were not true” and described her relationship with Manson as “brief” and “consensual.”¹⁸

Smithline claimed that artist Illma Gore had drafted her February 2021 public statement, that Wood had told her not remembering abuse “did not necessarily mean that it did not happen,” and that she was encouraged to share specific false claims on programs like The View. Wood’s representative denied the allegations, countering that “it was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered” and suggesting Smithline had been subjected to “harassment and threats” that influenced her reversal.¹⁹ Smithline’s former attorney, Jay Ellwanger, called her accusations about his representation “categorically and verifiably false.”²⁰

Manson’s Defamation Suit Against Wood

In March 2022, Manson sued Wood and Illma Gore for defamation, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He claimed Wood and Gore orchestrated a coordinated campaign against him, forged a letter from a real FBI agent to create the false impression he was under federal investigation, impersonated him online, and made a “swatting” call to send police to his home.²¹

The forged FBI letter was central. According to Manson’s filings, the document was created in November 2020 and purported to warn that Wood was “a key witness in connection to a criminal investigation” involving “Human and Sex Trafficking crimes.” No party disputed that the letter was fake. Manson’s attorneys alleged it was first used in a custody dispute between Wood and her ex-husband, Jamie Bell, and was later deployed to recruit other women to accuse Manson.²² Wood testified under oath that she did not forge the letter and said it was used only in a family court proceeding.

Wood and Gore fought the suit using California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects against lawsuits designed to suppress free speech. In May 2023, a judge struck down much of Manson’s complaint, including the claim that Wood had recruited other women to accuse him, finding the claims “meritless.” In February 2024, Manson was ordered to pay nearly $327,000 in fees to Wood and roughly $169,000 to Gore. On November 19, 2024, Manson dropped the lawsuit entirely, including his pending appeal. He paid Wood’s full fee award of approximately $327,000 and paid Gore $130,000.²³

Wood’s attorney, Michael J. Kump, called the lawsuit “a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career.” Manson’s attorney, Howard King, said his client was “pleased to dismiss his still-pending claims and appeal in order to close the door on this chapter of his life.”²

Manson’s Denial

Through his attorney, Howard King, Manson has “vehemently denied any and all claims of sexual assault or abuse,” characterizing the accusations as a “coordinated attack” by former partners who weaponized his “shock rock” persona and reframed consensual relationships as abuse.⁴ King has described the situation as “one of the greatest hoaxes of all time.”¹⁸ Smithline’s recantation has anchored this defense. Wood’s legal team has contested Smithline’s account and alleged that Manson’s own lawyers pressured her into reversing her testimony.²⁴

Current Status

The immediate professional fallout after February 2021 was severe. Manson was dropped by his record label, Loma Vista Recordings; his talent agency, CAA, and his longtime manager, Tony Ciulla, cut ties; and AMC pulled a planned segment featuring Manson from its horror anthology series Creepshow.²⁵

After roughly three years without new music or live appearances, he signed with indie metal label Nuclear Blast in 2024. His twelfth studio album, One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1, was released on November 22, 2024.²⁶ The return has drawn organized pushback. In June 2025, his UK tour date at the Brighton Centre was cancelled after pressure from the campaign group “No Stage for Abusers,” the University of Sussex students’ union, and Green Party MP Siân Berry.²⁷

As of mid-2026, Manson is scheduled for a 21-date North American co-headlining tour with Rob Zombie titled “Freaks on Parade,” running from August 20 through September 20, 2026.²⁸ His only active civil case tied to the abuse allegations is Ashley Walters’ revived sexual assault lawsuit, pending in LA Superior Court.

1
Deadline. Marilyn Manson Sexual Assault Case Revived
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Variety. Marilyn Manson Drops Lawsuit Against Evan Rachel Wood, Will Pay Legal Fees
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Billboard. Phoenix Rising Director Talks Evan Rachel Wood, Marilyn Manson Documentary
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Rolling Stone. Marilyn Manson Abuse Allegations
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ABC7. Marilyn Manson Accusations: LA County Sheriff’s Department Investigation
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Rolling Stone. Evan Rachel Wood Alleges Marilyn Manson Raped Her During Music Video Filming
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Pitchfork. Evan Rachel Wood Alleges Marilyn Manson Essentially Raped Her While Filming Music Video
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The Guardian. Evan Rachel Wood Accuses Marilyn Manson of Raping Her on Music Video Set
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NY1. Marilyn Manson Won’t Be Charged After Long Investigation of Sexual Assault Allegations
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LA County District Attorney. Update: DA Hochman Announces Decision on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault Allegations
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The Hill. Marilyn Manson Sexual Assault: LA DA Declines Charges
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CBS News Los Angeles. LA DA Declines Sex Abuse Charges Against Marilyn Manson
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Los Angeles Times. Marilyn Manson, Esmé Bianco Settle Sexual Assault Lawsuit
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Billboard. Marilyn Manson Abuse Allegations Timeline
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California Legislative Information. AB-250 Sexual Assault: Statute of Limitations
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Billboard. Marilyn Manson Sex Abuse Lawsuit Ex-Assistant Revived Again
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Los Angeles Times. Marilyn Manson Sexual Assault Minor Lawsuit
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Los Angeles Times. Marilyn Manson Accuser Recants Statement, Blames Evan Rachel Wood
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NBC News. Former Marilyn Manson Accuser Alleges Evan Rachel Wood Pressured Her Into Making Claims
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Rolling Stone. Ashley Morgan Smithline Recants Marilyn Manson Allegations
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Rolling Stone. Marilyn Manson Drops Defamation Lawsuit Against Evan Rachel Wood
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Rolling Stone. Marilyn Manson Evan Rachel Wood Lawsuit Appeal
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Hanson Bridgett. Hanson Bridgett Seals Victory Against Rock Musician Marilyn Manson
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NBC News. Evan Rachel Wood Says She Didn’t Pressure Former Marilyn Manson Accuser
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Jezebel. Marilyn Manson Has Been Dropped From His Record Label
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Nuclear Blast. Marilyn Manson: One Assassination Under God Chapter One Out Today
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The Guardian. Marilyn Manson Brighton Concert Cancelled After Pressure From Campaigners
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Live Nation. Rob Zombie Events