Marilyn Manson’s lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood has had parts gutted (Picture: Getty/AP)
Marilyn Manson has seen key sections of his defamation lawsuit against former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood thrown out by a California judge.
This includes his claim that she fabricated sexual and physical abuse allegations against him from their relationship and tried to persuade other women to encourage them to come forward as well.
Manson – real name Brian Warner – alleged in his suit last year that both Westworld actress Wood and Illma Gore defamed him intentionally, caused him emotional distress and derailed his career in music, TV and film, while Wood enjoyed a boost to hers.
He also accused them of forging a letter from the FBI as one of their methods of persuasion, which Wood denies.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa A Beaudet dismissed the part of the suit dealing with the disputed FBI letter, as well as the section that alleges 35-year-old Wood and Gore used a checklist found on an iPad for other women to use to make abuse claims about Manson.
Beaudet’s tentative ruling was based on a California law meant to protect the free speech of defendants in lawsuit cases.
Manson accused Wood of defaming him and a conspiracy to frame him as an abuser (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Rex/Shutterstock)
His former fiancée publicly named him as her alleged abuser in 2021 (Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO)
‘We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling, which affirms and protects Evan’s exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights,’ Wood’s attorney Michael Kump said in a statement to Deadline.
‘As the Court correctly found, Plaintiff failed to show that his claims against her have even minimal merit.’
Manson’s attorney confirmed that they plan to appeal immediately, adding: ‘The ruling is disappointing but not unexpected.’
‘The Court telegraphed this outcome when it refused to consider the bombshell sworn declaration of former plaintiff Ashley Smithline, which detailed how women were systematically pressured by Evan Rachel Wood and Illma Gore to make false claims about Brian Warner,’ lawyer Howard King said.
The judge overruled Wood’s motion to dismiss other parts of the lawsuit alleging the defendants intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Manson, 54, meaning his case can proceed on the remaining counts.
The couple were in a relationship from 2007 until 2010 (Picture: Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock)
Other women have come forward with allegations against the rocker of sexual and physical abuse, including an unnamed woman who accused Manson in January of grooming and sexually assaulting her multiple times when she was underage.
Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco also claimed that he left her with post-traumatic stress disorder and derailed her career after subjecting her to years of torment.
She recently settled a lawsuit after accusing him of physical and psychological abuse.
Esme Bianco recently settled a lawsuit with Manson (Picture: Getty)
Wood previously shared her allegations of rape and abuse In 2017, when the #MeToo movement gained momentum, before giving testimony to a Congressional committee in 2018, both without naming anyone.
In a lengthy Instagram post in 2021, she finally named Manson and claimed that he groomed her as a teenager and said that he ‘horrifically abused me for years’.
‘The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,’ she wrote at the time.
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Wood first became involved with him when she was 18 and he was 38, with the pair becoming engaged briefly in 2010 before breaking up.
A two-part HBO documentary on the allegations called Phoenix Rising premiered last March.
Police and prosecutors have also been conducting a separate criminal investigation of Manson for more than two years, with prosecutors saying in September they needed more evidence before deciding whether to charge him.
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Manson brought a lawsuit against his former fiancée after she accused him of sexual assault.
