Marilyn Manson has dropped his defamation lawsuit against actress Evan Rachel Wood and agreed to pay her legal fees.
“Marilyn Manson — whose real name is Brian Warner — filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career,” attorney Michael Kump told Deadline. “But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed.”
Wood, who was 19 when she started dating Manson (when he was 38) in 2007, accused the shock rocker in a 2021 social media post of “horrifically” abusing and “grooming” her when they dated between 2007-2010. She had also referred to being abused and sexually assaulted by a former partner, who was not named, during a 2018 Congressional hearing about the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act.
The “Westworld” star’s claims were reiterated in a 2022 documentary about Manson called “Phoenix Rising” in which other accusers stepped forward about the singer’s abuse and violence.
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Manson sued Wood and Illma Gore, Wood’s “romantic partner,” for defamation in March 2022, accusing them of fabricating evidence and conspiring to brand him publicly “as a rapist and abuser — a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.” Last year, a judge dismissed Manson’s claim that Wood and Gore had recruited women to lie about accusations.
As part of the settlement, the “Dope Show” singer also agreed to pay more than $326,000 to cover Wood’s legal costs. He has reportedly entered into a separate settlement agreement with Gore.