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Artist News Legal
Esmé Bianco settles sexual assault lawsuit against Marilyn Manson
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 26 January 2023
Marilyn Manson has settled a sexual assault lawsuit brought against him by actor Esmé Bianco. This follows the dismissal of another similar action against the musician earlier this month.
Bianco sued Manson, real name Brian Warner, and his company Marilyn Manson Records in 2021, accusing him of sexual assault and battery, and human trafficking, in relation to incidents dating back to 2011.
This was one of four cases launched against the musician after his former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood went public with her own allegations about their time together.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Bianco’s lawyer Jay Ellwanger said: “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”.
Earlier this month, another case launched against Manson by model Ashley Morgan Smithline was dismissed when she missed a deadline to appoint new legal representation, after her original lawyer stepped down in October.
Multiple women came forward with claims of sexual assault against Manson after Wood named him as the previously anonymous abuser she had spoken about publicly for several years. Four went legal with those claims, which Manson has always denied.
With Bianco and Smithline’s cases at an end without getting to court, there are now two working their way through the system. One from an unnamed woman, and another filed by Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters.
That latter case was dismissed last year after a judge ruled that the statute of limitations prevented the litigation from proceeding. However, Walters is currently appealing that decision.
Manson himself launched legal action against Wood and her girlfriend Illma Gore last year over the claims made against him, ahead of the release of a documentary discussing them.
A criminal case investigating the claims against Manson is also ongoing but no charges have yet been brought against him.
