A week before trial was set to start, Marilyn Manson has reached a settlement with a woman who sued him for rape, Billboard can confirm.
Adam Wolf, the attorney for the woman known only as “Jane Doe,” filed the notice of settlement in Los Angeles court on Wednesday (Sept. 27). The lawyer will submit a request to dismiss the case within 45 days.
“Brian is pleased that, just as previous lawsuits were abandoned without payment or settled for pennies on the dollar, this plaintiff has now agreed to drop her suit in exchange for an insurance payment representing a fraction of her demands and far less than the cost to Brian of proceeding to trial,” Manson’s attorney Howard King shared in a press statement.
Following the news, Doe told Rolling Stone in a statement, “I was fully prepared for trial and never in a million years thought I would ever settle, but over the past two-and-a-half years I have silently endured threats, bullying, harassment and various forms of intimidation that have intensified over the past few weeks.” She noted that Manson attended her deposition and that she was “forced to answer seven hours of aggressive questioning with him staring at me from across the table.” She continued, “I’ve been told that this almost never happens, as it’s cruel, and that a main reason for it would be to intimidate and inflict emotional distress on a victim.”
“I never cared about money and only ever wanted justice, but if we had gone to trial, I could have lost my right to anonymity and been victim-blamed on a large and public scale,” she added. “Most importantly I could have risked losing the freedom to tell my story, and that is worth more than anything in the world.”
Doe initially filed a lawsuit against Manson (real name Brian Warner) in June 2021 for allegedly raping and torturing her in 2011. In the complaint, she claimed that for 10 years, she had repressed memories of being raped by Manson and only recovered them in February 2021 when other women stepped forward with accusations against him.
The woman’s complaint further claimed that following the alleged assault, Manson threatened to kill her, saying he would “bash her head in.” It went on to state that he said he would “get away with it” because he was a “celebrity who had contacts with the police.” She also alleged that Manson kept in almost constant contact with her and deprived her of food, claiming he told her “that because she was his girlfriend, she needed to lose weight because her weight embarrassed him.”
In September 2021, however, the lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Gregory Keosian, who stated that the accuser’s claims of repressed memories were “not sufficient” to overrule the two-year statute of limitations. While Keosian stated that the claim of repressed memories “is common for sexual assault victims,” he ruled that more was needed to invoke California’s “delayed-discovery” rule. The rule effectively postpones the start date of the statute of limitations if the plaintiff can prove that they first became aware of the injury within two years of filing their complaint, regardless of when the incident itself took place. The judge gave her 20 days from the ruling to amend and refile her complaint, and it was refiled eight days later with more information about her repressed memories.
Over the past two years, Manson has been hit with sexual assault lawsuits by multiple women, including Game of Thrones actress and former girlfriend Esme Bianco, his former personal assistant Ashley Walters and ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline. The lawsuits filed by Walters and Smithline have since been dismissed, while Manson settled with Bianco in January. Smithline later recanted her accusations and claimed that Manson’s former girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood — whose initial allegation of sexual abuse by Manson in February 2021 opened up a tidal wave of similar claims against the singer — had pressured her to make the claim, which Wood later denied. Smithline’s recantation tied in with a March 2022 defamation lawsuit Manson had filed against Wood that accused the actress of launching an “organized attack” against him, but a judge dismissed much of that lawsuit this past May.
Stories about sexual assault allegations can be traumatizing for survivors of sexual assault. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can reach out to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). The organization provides free, confidential support to sexual assault victims. Call RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE) or visit the anti-sexual violence organization’s website for more information.
