Why did Marilyn Manson sue Evan Rachel Wood? Shock rocker drops defamation lawsuit against former partner 

Marilyn Manson has dropped his 2022 defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood and agreed to pay $327,000 for her attorney's fees. The lawsuit was a response to Wood’s 2021 claims of grooming and abuse, which she detailed in the 2022 documentary Phoenix Rising, accusing Manson of being a "r*pist and abuser."

The lawsuit also mentioned another woman, Ashley Gore, who also spoke against Manson. The shock rocker claimed:

“Both, Evan Rachel Wood and Ashley Gore, secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously with allegations of rape and abuse against Manson, and brazenly claim that it took 10 or more years to ‘realize’ their consensual relationships with Warner were supposedly abusive.”

Marilyn Manson and Evan Rose Wood started dating in 2007 and were in a relationship off and on. However, the couple parted ways in 2011, and the legal fiasco began a decade later, in 2021.

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Details about the lawsuit explored as Marilyn Manson’s defamation case against former partner, Evan Rachel Wood comes to an end

In March 2022, Marilyn Manson sued Evan Rachel Wood, a year after she accused him of s*xual abuse during their relationship, which she claimed to have begun when she was 18. In his counter-lawsuit, Manson claimed Wood and her partner, Illma Gore, pressured women into making false allegations against him and posed as FBI agents to intimidate them.

Notably, Wood was among at least 15 women accusing Manson of s*xual misconduct, which he denies, as he stated that the claims were fabricated and damaging to his career. Hence, he filed a defamation lawsuit, believing that the two women together tarnished his public image.

The lawsuit came shortly after Phoenix Rising was released in 2022, in which Evan claimed that she was “r*ped” by the musician on camera in 2007 during the shoot of a music video. She claimed:

"It's nothing like I thought it was going to be. We're doing things that were not what was pitched to me. ... We had discussed a simulated s*x scene, but once the cameras were rolling, he started penetrating me for real. I had never agreed to that."

She continued:

"I'm a professional actress, I've been doing this my whole life; I've never been on a set that unprofessional in my life up until this day."

Furthermore, People Magazine also reported that Marilyn Manson's lawyer, Howard King, spoke to the publication and stated:

"After 4 years of fighting a battle where he was able to tell the truth, Brian is pleased to dismiss his still-pending claims and appeal in order to close the door on this chapter of his life.”

On the other hand, the publication claimed that Wood’s representative also spoke up on the matter and claimed that Marilyn’s “attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed.” However, at the moment, neither Marilyn Mansion nor Evan Rachel have spoken up on the case being closed.