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Marilyn Manson's former assistant claims she was threatened with legal action if she appeared in Evan Rachel Wood's documentary, according to new complaint

Mar 17, 2022, 08:34 IST
Insider
Marilyn Manson performs during the 2019 Louder Than Life Music Festival.Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
  • Marilyn Manson's former assistant Ashley Walters submitted an amended sexual harassment lawsuit on Friday.
  • Her team said that she was threatened with legal action were she to speak out in any interviews.
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Marilyn Manson's former assistant Ashley Walters alleged that she was threatened with legal action if she were to participate in Evan Rachel Wood's documentary "Phoenix Rising," which is centered around Wood's allegations of sexual assault against Manson, according to a new lawsuit filed by Walters on Friday.

Walters submitted a new complaint after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern had asked her team to file an amended complaint by March 11 after calling into question the timeline of her allegations in relation to the two year statute of limitations.

"On January 7, 2022, Defendants sent Plaintiff an email through her counsel, threatening to take retaliatory legal action against her if she 'participate[ed] in any interviews about Mr. Warner or reveal[ed] any confidential information' about him," Walters' attorneys wrote in the complaint, referring to Manson by his birth name Brian Warner, mentioning that Wood was sued for sharing her allegations in her documentary.

On March 2, ahead of the release of Wood's documentary, Manson sued Wood for defamation, calling her allegations "a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner's successful music, TV, and film career."

Walters, Manson's assistant between 2010 to 2011, initially sued the artist over alleged sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress in May 2021, according to court documents.

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Manson's team has challenged Walters' lawsuit, denying all of the allegations and claiming that they are past the statute of limitations.

In the lawsuit, Walters alleged that Manson forced her to work for two days straight, during which she says she feared Manson's frequent violent and angry outbursts.

Walters accused Manson of pushing her onto his "influential industry friends and associates," including an actor, who forcefully kissed her, in September 2010. She also alleged that Manson harassed her by forcefully kissing her.

Though the allegations remain the same in Walters' amended suit, her team added to its reasoning as to the timing of the lawsuit's submission.

"Plaintiff was unable to recall many of the physical and emotional abuses until the fall of 2020 when countless repressed memories flooded back to Plaintiff after meeting numerous other victims of Defendants and obtaining counseling from a mental health professional," the amended complaint said.

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Similarly, with the first complaint, Walters reiterates that through meeting with Wood, Esme Bianco, and Ashley Morgan Smithline, all of whom have sued Manson over alleged sexual abuse, she was able to process the weight of what Manson allegedly did to her.

At a January hearing, Walters' team initially offered supporting arguments for the delayed timeline, alleging that Manson had threatened Walters about speaking out in 2019.

"It took Plaintiff years, speaking with others in the support group, and attending therapy, to understand the extent and wrongfulness of, and recall all of the abuse that Warner subjected her to. She continues to unlock suppressed memories to this day," the amended lawsuit said.

Attorneys representing Walters and Manson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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