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Artist News Legal
Court declines to dismiss Esmé Bianco’s abuse lawsuit against Marilyn Manson
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 8 October 2021
A US judge has declined to dismiss the lawsuit filed against Marilyn Manson by ‘Game Of Thrones’ actor Esmé Bianco, who accuses the musician of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse relating to events that took place between 2009 and 2013.
Bianco was the first of four women to file a lawsuit against Manson after another of his former girlfriends, actor Evan Rachel Wood, went public with abuse allegations. Bianco says in her lawsuit that she “felt like a prisoner” during her relationship with Manson, accusing him of using “drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts”.
In July, Manson sought to have much of Bianco’s lawsuit dismissed based on the statute of limitation rules in California, so basically arguing that she had left it too long to file her legal arguments. However, judge Fernando L Aenlle-Rocha yesterday rejected the motion to dismiss.
The judge ruled: “A reasonable jury could find that the effects of [Manson]’s alleged unconscionable acts, including the perceived threat to plaintiff’s safety, immigration status and career, persisted years after her last contact with [Manson]”. Therefore, it’s not clear at what point the statute of limitations would apply to the case.
The decision was welcomed by Bianco and her legal team. Lawyer Jay Ellwanger told reporters: “Today’s ruling, which allows Ms Bianco’s case to move forward in its entirety, underscores that threats and coercion cannot be used by defendants as both a shield and a sword”.
Meanwhile Bianco herself said in a statement: “My hope is that this ruling empowers other survivors to pursue justice for themselves, while signalling to abusers that they cannot bully victims into silence”.
For his part, Manson continues to deny the various abuse allegations that have been made against him. In his July court filing, the musician accused Bianco of spending “months plotting, workshopping and fine-tuning” her story into “twisted tales that bear no resemblance to reality”.
She and the other accusers, the legal papers then alleged, are attempting to make people believe that the shock rock character Manson plays on stage is actually who he really is in his private life.
Nevertheless, Bianco’s case against Manson will now proceed in full, allowing her allegations to be heard in court.
