Marilyn Manson Archives

Marilyn Manson and Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco have settled a 2021 sexual assault lawsuit in which Bianco alleged Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, raped and sexually battered her, attorneys for both parties have confirmed to SPIN. Details of the out-of-court settlement were not revealed. “Ms. Bianco has agreed to resolve her claims against Brian Warner and Marilyn Manson Records, Inc. in order to move on with her life and career," said Bianco's lawyer Jay Ellwanger. Manson's attorney, Howard King, confirmed the settlement in a similarly worded statement to SPIN. Bianco, along with actress Evan Rachel Wood, was one of more than a dozen women to speak out in 2021 against Manson, who has denied all allegations. The original lawsuit said “Mr. Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions. Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011.” It alleged that Warner “committed sexual acts” with Bianco at times when she was unable to consent and said those acts included “spanking, biting, cutting, and whipping Ms. Bianco’s buttocks, breasts, and genitals for Mr. Warner’s sexual gratification -- all without the consent of Plaintiff. Perhaps most horrifyingly, Mr. Warner locked Ms. Bianco in the bedroom, tied her to a prayer kneeler, and beat her with a whip that Mr. Warner said was utilized by the Nazis. He also electrocuted her.” The suit claimed Warner violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by luring Bianco to the United States to appear in a music video for Manson’s “I Want To Kill You Like They Do in the Movies” and a never-made horror film based on the works of Lewis Carroll called Phantasmagoria. Bianco said Manson “promised work opportunities that never appeared while inserting himself in her visa process was able to control Bianco by threatening to withdraw support if she displeased him.” Earlier this month, a separate sexual assault lawsuit brought against Manson by model Ashley Morgan Smithline was dismissed, after Smithline failed to hire a new attorney or choose to represent herself within a 90-day window set forth in court in October 2022. Ellwanger initially represented Smithline in the case, but he was either fired or chose to withdraw, per conflicting reports from both camps. Last May, another sexual abuse lawsuit brought against Manson by his former assistant Ashley Walters was dismissed in Los Angeles Superior Court due to a lack of facts and a statute of limitations. Manson is also suing Wood and her former partner Illma Gore for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional stress, violation of the Comprehensive Computer Data and Access Fraud Act, and impersonation over the Internet.

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