Marilyn Manson accuser Evan Rachel Wood fires back over "manipulation" claims

Actress Evan Rachel Wood has responded to accusations made by former Marilyn Manson accuser Ashley Morgan Smithline who claimed that Wood "manipulated" her into making false accusations of sexual assault and abuse against Manson. Wood had named Manson as her alleged abuser two years ago, along with four others, including Smithline.

In response to Smithline's recent claims, Wood filed a legal document, obtained by Rolling Stone, denying any manipulation of Smithline and presented evidence, including screenshots of comments from Smithline on her Instagram account, messages between the two where Smithline supported her accusations against Manson, and a voicemail from Smithline to a friend in 2022.

In the filing, Wood also referred to a comment made by Smithline in 2019, in which Smithline "referenced information about my private experiences with Warner" when Manson was said to have abused Wood. This was in response to Smithline's claim that she was "manipulated" by Wood.

Smithline's recent statement said that the allegations she made against Manson were untrue and that she was "manipulated" by Wood, but Wood's filing asserts that the "real pressure Smithline faced was not to make allegations against Plaintiff — it was to retract them."

Manson has refuted all allegations against him, saying in 2021 that his "intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners."

Smithline previously sued Manson and spoke publicly about her claims, but the lawsuit was dismissed in early 2023. She claimed that she was pressured to make false accusations and to participate in media interviews and photoshoots.

All of this began when Evan Rachel Wood in 2018 said publicly that she had suffered sexual assault and torture from an unnamed abuser. In 2021, Wood publicly accused Manson of abuse, which was followed by similar allegations by at least four other women. Several accusers subsequently sued Manson, and he sued Wood in 2022. Manson has denied the allegations, and an investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is ongoing.