The actress Esmé Bianco and Marilyn Manson have reached an out-of-court settlement for the sexual assault lawsuit she filed against him and his business, Marilyn Manson Records, Inc., in 2021. The actress, who appeared on Game of Thrones, claims that the singer, whose real name is Brian Warner, was raped and sexually beaten; he also claimed to have violated California’s human trafficking laws. The terms of the agreement are not known.
“Ms. Bianco has agreed to resolve her claims against Brian Warner and Marilyn Manson Records, Inc. in order to move forward with her life and career,” said her attorney, Jay Ellwanger. Rolling Stone.
“Ms. Bianco has agreed to resolve her claims against Brian Warner and Marilyn Manson Records, Inc.,” Warner’s attorney, Howard King, told Rolling Stone.
Bianco was one of more than a dozen women to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Warner after actress Evan Rachel Wood claimed on Instagram that Warner abused her in February 2021. Bianco – who co- she, with Wood, created the Phoenix Act , which expands the rights of survivors of domestic violence – was the first woman to file a lawsuit against him. “Mr. Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions,” the filing said. “Mr. Warner raped Ms Bianco in or around May 2011.”
The complaint also alleged that Warner sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious and unable to consent. It also detailed more ways in which he allegedly abused her: “These acts include spanking, biting, cutting, and whipping Ms Bianco’s buttocks, breasts and genitalia for the sexual gratification of Mr Warner – to all without the plaintiff’s consent.”
The actress had been living in London when she met the singer, who Warner claimed enticed her to move to Los Angeles to star in a music video that never came out and to act in a film that never materialized. “By inserting himself into Ms. Bianco’s visa process, Mr. Warner was able to control Ms. Bianco by threatening to withdraw support if she was displeased with him,” the suit said. He also claimed that at one point he had locked her in a bedroom to prevent her from fleeing. She claimed that he also did her work for free, making food for him, cleaning his apartment, and singing on an album – all of which violated the state’s human trafficking laws. The suit originally named Warner manager Tony Ciulla as a defendant, but his name was later removed.
Warner has denied allegations of abuse over the years through his lawyer, including those in Bianco’s lawsuit. “These allegations are clearly false,” Warner’s attorney, King, said in 2021. “To be clear, only after my client refused to be swayed by Ms. Bianco and her lawyer and yielded to It was her outrageous financial demands that this suit was filed. based on behavior that never happened. We will vigorously challenge these claims in court and are confident that we will not prevail.”
Bianco explained his allegations against Warner in Rolling Stone’s article investigating the allegations against Warner. “Victims felt absolutely ashamed that they still didn’t realize what was happening to them until it was far too late,” he said. “He told the whole world and nobody tried to stop him.”
Several other women, including Warner’s former personal assistant, Ashley Walters, and model Ashley Morgan Smithline filed similar lawsuits against Warner. All women claimed similar patterns of abuse which included grooming, sexual and physical abuse. Walters’ suit was dismissed over the statute of limitations; Smithline’s was fired when it missed a deadline. A similar lawsuit filed by an anonymous woman, known as Jane Doe, is still standing.
Meanwhile, Warner has filed a lawsuit against Wood and her friend, Illma Gore, alleging defamation, emotional distress, and “internet impersonation,” among other charges. The filing arrived just before Phoenix Risinga a documentary about Wood and the abuse she claims she suffered at the hands of Warner, which premiered on HBO. In the doc, she described how she felt Warner treated her and claimed he essentially “raped her” on the set of one of his music videos.
Shortly after Wood posted her allegations on Instagram, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it was investigating allegations of criminal sexual assault against Warner. Police turned their findings over to the DA in Los Angeles, who has not yet commented on whether or not they will pursue charges against Warner.
During an appearance on The Scene last spring, Wood asked a question about Warner’s lawsuit against her. “I am very confident that I have the truth on my side and that the truth will come out,” he said. “This is obviously timed before the documentary. … I’m not doing this [film] to clear my name. I do this to protect people. I am doing this to sound the alarm that there is a dangerous person out there and I don’t want anyone to come near him. So people can think whatever they want about me. I have to let the legal process run its course, and I’m steady as a rock.”
