A judge on Tuesday tossed out a lawsuit filed by one of the woman who has accused Marilyn Manson of sexual abuse.
Ashley Morgan Smithline failed to find a new lawyer by the Dec. 5, 2022 deadline so her case has been dismissed without prejudice, which means she can refile it.
In 2021, Smithline alleged she suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse over two years. She claimed Manson bit her, whipped her, carved his initials into her thigh and raped her. She also claimed he made her take part in a blood pact and would lock her in a soundproof room when he was angry.
Manson also allegedly urged Smithline, who is Jewish, to find him Nazi weapons and memorabilia.
Through his reps, Manson has consistently denied Smithline’s allegations. “There are so many falsehoods within her claims that we wouldn't know where to begin to answer them,” read a statement at the time.
Marilyn Manson: iHeartRadio Music News Coverage
Last May, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2021 against Manson by his former assistant Ashley Walters because it exceeded the statute of limitations. She had accused Manson of sexual assault, battery and harassment.
Manson is also facing lawsuits from other women, including Esmé Bianco.
Through his lawyer, Manson the shock rocker has called the allegations against him “untrue” and part of a “coordinated attack” by women who are “cynically and dishonestly seeking to monetize and exploit the #MeToo movement.” He claimed the women “spent months plotting, workshopping, and fine-tuning” their “twisted tales.”
Manson claims his accusers are conflating his stage persona with “fabricated accounts of abuse.”
After ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood went public with allegations of abuse, Manson said on social media: “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners.
“Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”
Manson filed a defamation lawsuit against Wood, alleging that her allegation of physical and sexual abuse is a “malicious falsehood” that has derailed his career.
Appearing on The View last year, Wood said she was not surprised by Manson's lawsuit. “I am not scared. I am sad, because this is how it works. This is what pretty much every survivor that tries to expose someone in a position of power goes though, and this is part of the retaliation that keeps survivors quiet. This is why people don’t want to come forward. This was expected.”