Marilyn Manson has dropped his defamation lawsuit against actress Evan Rachel Wood and agreed to pay nearly $327,000 in attorneys’ fees.
In February 2021, Wood publicly identified Manson as her abuser, accusing her one-time fiancé of sexual assault, psychological abuse, and various forms of coercion, violence, and intimidation.
Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, responded by filing a defamation lawsuit in March 2022.
In May 2023, a California judge tossed out most of Manson’s defamation suit, citing California’s anti-SLAPP law and its protections on individual free speech. The judge subsequently ordered that Manson pay Wood’s legal fees, which totaled $326,956.
Though Manson initially sought to appeal the ruling, Rolling Stone reports that he has now agreed to drop the lawsuit and pay Wood’s full lawyers’ fees.
“Marilyn Manson filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career. But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed,” a representative for Wood said in a statement. “As the trial court correctly found, Warner’s claims were meritless. Warner’s decision to finally abandon his lawsuit and pay Ms. Wood her full fee award of almost $327,000 only confirms as much.”
This is a developing story…
