Content warning: This story contains descriptions of assault and violence against a minor.
Marilyn Manson is being sued by a woman who alleges that the singer sexually assaulted her when she was a minor, and later groomed her into following him on tour.
The news comes on the heels of Manson — whose real name is Brian Warner — settling a lawsuit with Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco, who claimed sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Bianco was one of four women who came forward with lawsuits after Manson’s ex-girlfriend, actress Evan Rachel Wood, accused him of abuse in February 2021 that had allegedly occurred during their relationship a decade prior.
However, while the former abuse allegations stemmed from incidents around 2010, the latest took place in 1995, early on in the singer’s career. The now-adult plaintiff — who submitted the legal filings anonymously under the name “Jane Doe” — is suing Warner, along with Interscope and Nothing Records, for intentional infliction of emotional distress including counts of sexual battery and negligence.
The plaintiff says she first met Warner following a Dallas concert when she was just 16, after waiting for his tour bus. She and another girl were subsequently invited onto the bus, where Warner asked for their ages and school grades, as well as their home addresses and phone numbers, according to Rolling Stone.
“While on the tour bus, Defendant Warner performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff, who was a virgin at the time, including but not limited to forced copulation and vaginal penetration,” the lawsuit claims. The age of consent in Texas at the time was, and still is, 17. “One of the band members watched Defendant Warner sexually assault Plaintiff,” the suit says. “Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her. … Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to ‘get the fuck off of my bus’ and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family.”
However, the woman says she continued to be in touch with Warner, who allegedly convinced her to travel to meet him in New Orleans where he was playing a concert, when she was still 16. There she says he began grooming her, and she would continue to see him over the next couple of years while accompanying him on tour.
The filing likewise states that Warner had “purposefully and intentionally laid the groundwork necessary to intimidate and control” Jane Doe while she was still a child.
“Throughout the tour and while within the State of New York, when Plaintiff was with Defendant Warner both on concert days and on off days, Defendant Warner coerced her to have sex with him,” the suit claims. “Defendant Warner often coerced Plaintiff to have sex with him and other band members or his assistant at the same time. Defendant Warner controlled what Plaintiff could do, who could touch Plaintiff, and who he wanted Plaintiff to be with sexually, all while providing Plaintiff with drugs.”
Interscope and Nothing Records were included in the lawsuit as the plaintiff claims that the labels were aware of Warner’s “practice of sexually assaulting minors,” and that they “aided and abetted such behavior.”
“As a result of Brian Warner’s sexual abuse and assault, enabled and encouraged by Defendants Interscope and Nothing Records, Plaintiff has suffered severe emotional, physical, and psychological distress, including shame, and guilt, economic loss, economic capacity and emotional loss,” the filing states.
Prior to this latest lawsuit, over a dozen women have come forward accusing Warner of sexual assault and abuse in the past two years alone. But other than the recent settlement, he has yet to be found guilty — though, a fourth lawsuit by a woman who also wishes to remain anonymous is still pending.
Last March, Warner sued Wood and her friend Illma Gore — who appeared in Wood’s Phoenix Rising documentary — for defamation, distress, and impersonating the FBI. A trial date is expected later this year.
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or if you believe someone you know is being abused, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE or spoken with online via the hotline’s website, or text “START” to 88788.