Is Marilyn Monroe Dropping Defamation Lawsuit Against Evan Rachel Wood? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Marilyn Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has settled his lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood. The suit was filed after she accused him of sexual abuse. According to the documents, Manson will pay Wood roughly $327,000 in attorneys’ fees as part of the agreement reached on November 19.
Evan Rachel Wood’s Attorney Issued A Statement
“Marilyn Manson — whose real name is Brian Warner — 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,” Michael J. Kump, an attorney for Wood, wrote in a statement to the press.
Kump added, “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.”
Marilyn Manson’s Defamation Claim Named Evan Rachel Wood’s Co-Defendant And Partner Illma Gore
Marilyn Manson’s defamation claim alleged that Evan Rachel Wood’s co-defendant, her “on-again, off-again romantic partner” Illma Gore, wrongfully stated that the musician hired an underage actress in a music video and “filmed the sexual assault of a minor.”
In the original March 2022 filing, his lawyers alleged that Gore had “publicly cast” the musician as a “rapist and abuser — a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV and film career.”
The filing also claimed that Wood and Gore impersonated an FBI agent “by forging and distributing a fictitious letter from the agent, to create the false appearance that Warner’s alleged ‘victims’ and their families were in danger, and that there was a federal criminal investigation of Warner ongoing.”
Marilyn Manson Dismissed His Suit Against Evan Rachel Wood
“After four 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,” Howard King, an attorney for Warner, said in a statement, per Variety.
After Manson filed the defamation lawsuit, the Westworld star’s attorneys, Kump Shawn Holley and Katherine Kleindienst of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP, moved to dismiss most of it under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The statute strikes down complaints that stem from exercising free speech First Amendment rights.
Last year, the court granted the notion and ordered Manson to pay Wood’s attorneys’ fees shortly thereafter. Following an appeal, his attorneys reportedly sought a more favorable settlement. They proposed a portion of legal fees in addition to a confidentiality agreement and a “mutually acceptable” public statement by Wood.
After turning down this offer, Manson has now settled the lawsuit and will pay $327,000.
