Marilyn Manson has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood, Rolling Stone reports. Wood’s attorneys say that Manson previously tried to settle the suit confidentially by paying a portion of her legal fees. Wood, her attorneys say, wouldn’t agree to these terms, and Manson will now pay Wood’s full fees, which total nearly $327,000, according to legal documents viewed by Rolling Stone.
“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,” a representative for Wood said in a statement. “But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed. 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.”
Manson’s attorney, Howard King, also released a statement, which reads, “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.”
Wood formally accused Manson of abuse in 2021 after previously speaking about the allegations without naming him in 2018 and 2019 testimonies for the House Judiciary Committee and CA Senate. He sued her and Illma Gore for defamation and emotional distress in 2022, saying that they’d conspired to depict him publicly “as a rapist and abuser—a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.” A judge threw out parts of the suit in February, and he filed an appeal, which he’s also abandoned now along with dropping the suit.
Multiple other women have also accused Manson of sexual misconduct, abuse, and assault, some of whom he’s settled with. Back in October, the Los Angeles District Attorney said they were reviewing “new leads and additional evidence” against Manson, as well.