Marilyn Manson Sued for Sexual Assault of a Minor

A suit has been filed against Marilyn Manson alleging he groomed and sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl multiple times through the 1990s.

Manson has faced a number of allegations since actress Evan Rachel Wood publicly came forward in 2021, alleging she was “horrifically” abused and groomed by the singer for years. Less than a week ago, a sexual assault case launched by Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco was closed in a settlement.

Related | Evan Rachel Wood Responds to Defamation Lawsuit

The most recent suit, reported by Rolling Stone, was submitted to Nassau County Supreme Court in Long Island, New York anonymously by the now-adult Jane Doe against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, and his former labels Interscope and Nothing Records. The suit includes counts of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress among other charges and is the first accusation of misconduct that took place during the artist’s early career.

More than a dozen women have made sexual assault allegations against Warner. The recent suit claims Warner committed non-consensual sex acts and made threats against the plaintiff and her family.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff describes meeting Warner for the first time in 1995 in Dallas — where the age of consent is 17 — when she was sixteen years old. She was allegedly invited with “one of the other younger girls” onto Warner’s tour bus where he asked their age and school grade, taking down their home addresses and phone numbers and performed acts of criminal sexual conduct on the plaintiff “not limited to forced copulation and vaginal penetration,” according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiff then visited Warner at various tour stops throughout the following years and spent four weeks on tour with Marilyn Manson & The Spooky Kids. While on tour, the plaintiff alleges that she took drugs with the band members and Warner “intentionally laid the groundwork necessary to intimidate and control her” even after she reached the age of consent.

Warner’s “emotional manipulation” and “hostile and verbally abusive behavior” are included in the charges of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit claims Interscope and Nothing Records were “well-aware of Defendant Warner’s practice of sexually assaulting minors, and aided and abetted such behavior.” The “sexual abuse and assault enabled and encouraged by Defendants Interscope and Nothing Records” resulted in “severe emotional, physical and psychological distress, including shame, and guilt, economic loss, economic capacity and emotional loss,” for Doe, according to the filing.

Representatives for Warner, Interscope and its parent company Universal Music Group and owner of Nothing Records’ Trent Reznor have not responded to requests for comment.

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, contact RAINN via chat or phone at 800-656-4673 for support and resources.

Photo courtesy of Billy Farrel/BFA