Marilyn Manson sues Evan Rachel Wood for defamation over her sexual-abuse allegations against him
- Marilyn Manson filed a defamation suit against Evan Rachel Wood on Wednesday, which Insider has obtained.
- The suit accused Wood's allegations of being "a malicious falsehood."
Marilyn Manson filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-fianceé Evan Rachel Wood over her allegations that he sexually abused her.
In his Wednesday complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, which Insider has obtained, Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, calls Wood's accusations against him "a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner's successful music, TV and film career."
Wood has previously made allegations of abuse against Manson, including that he groomed her and he "horrifically" abused her as a teenager. Manson has denied these allegations, calling them in a February 2021 statement "horrible distortions of reality."
The actress was 19 when she began dating Manson, then 38, in 2007. They were engaged in 2010.
"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," the filing states.
The filing also alleges that Wood and Gore "impersonated an actual agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by forging and distributing a fictitious letter from the agent, to create the false appearance that Warner's alleged 'victims' and their families were in danger, and that there was a federal criminal investigation of Warner ongoing."
"Wood and Gore used that fabricated FBI letter not only to convince others to join their crusade but also to dupe HBO into distributing a one-sided 'documentary' premised on the existence of an entirely fictitious federal investigation," Manson's attorney Howard King told Insider in a statement in part on Wednesday.
"Even though HBO and the producers have been made aware of these serious acts of misconduct, they have thus far chosen to proceed without regard for the facts," it continued. "But the evidence of wrongdoing by Wood and Gore is irrefutable – and this legal action will hold them to account."
Insider reached out to HBO for comment but didn't get an immediate response. The documentary will air on HBO on March 15 and 16.
"This detailed complaint has been filed to stop a campaign of malicious and unjustified attacks on Brian Warner," Manson's attorney continued in his Wednesday statement. "Years after the end of Evan Rachel Wood's long-term relationship with Warner, she and her girlfriend Illma Gore recruited numerous women and convinced them to make false allegations against him – claims that Wood and Gore scripted for them."
A representative for Wood didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the filing.
In January, part one of the two-part HBO documentary "Phoenix Rising" was screened as a work-in-progress at the Sundance Film Festival in which Wood chronicles the abuse she said she suffered from Manson.
The documentary includes Wood saying that Manson "essentially raped her" when they filmed the 2007 "Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)" music video. She also said Manson scarred her with the letter "M" on her body.
Manson's attorney has preciously denied to Insider that the two had sex on set.
"Brian did not have sex with Evan on that set, and she knows that is the truth," he said in a statement following the screening.