(AP) Rocker Marilyn Manson sued his former fiancee, Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood, on Wednesday over her allegations that he sexually and physically abused her during their relationship.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that Wood’s allegations were fabricated and that she and another woman named as a defendant, Illma Gore, used false pretenses including a phony letter from the FBI to convince other women to come forward with sexual abuse allegations and coached them on what to say about Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner.
The lawsuit, which claims defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, says Wood publicly cast Manson “as a rapist and abuser — a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.”
Wood and Gore have not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. An email to representatives of Wood seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Manson and Wood revealed they were a couple in 2007, and they were briefly engaged in 2010 before breaking up.
In 2017, when the #MeToo movement gained momentum, Wood said she had been raped and abused, and she gave testimony to a Congressional committee in 2018, both without naming anyone. Then in an Instagram post in February of 2020, Wood named Manson, saying he “horrifically abused me for years.”
Manson was dropped by his record label. Several other women came forward with similar allegations. At least three of them filed lawsuits. And police began an investigation of Manson.
An HBO documentary on the allegations premieres March 15.
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