One of Marilyn Manson’s former sexual assault accusers claims in a new legal filing that the shock rocker’s ex Evan Rachel Wood and others “manipulated” her into making false rape allegations.
“I succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against [Manson] that were not true,” Ashley Morgan Smithline says in an explosive declaration obtained by Page Six exclusively on Thursday.
The 37-year-old model, who is Jewish, previously accused Manson, 54, of forcibly raping her while cutting her with a swastika-emblazoned knife and shoving his fist in her mouth during sex.
She conducted a national TV interview about her claims on “The View” in June 2021 and filed a lawsuit against the “Dope Show” singer. Her case was then dismissed in January after she failed to find new legal counsel.
Now, Smithline claims those public appearances and the lawsuit itself were all a farce.
The Los Angeles native says in her declaration that either Wood’s girlfriend, Illma Gore, or Ashley Walters — Manson’s former assistant who also previously sued him — contacted her in 2020.
The women allegedly proposed that Smithline participate in group meetings with others who claimed to be “victims” of Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, including Wood.
Smithline claims she was asked in the meetings whether she had been “whipped, chained, tied up, branded, cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or raped” by Manson, and she allegedly responded, “No, this did not happen to me, and this was not my experience.”
However, she claims Wood, 35, told her that “just because she could not remember” those things “did not necessarily mean that it did not happen,” alleging it was possible she had “repressed” memories due to her alleged trauma.
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“While at first I knew Mr. Warner did not do these things to me, I eventually I began
to question whether he actually did,” Smithline says.
“I was asked whether [I] was repressing memories to just get through day-to-day life, and whether it was easier just to not think about what actually happened than accept reality. They also said it was important for people to come forward so that no one else gets hurt.”
In February 2021, Wood publicly named Manson as her alleged abuser for the first time. According to Smithline, the “Thirteen” star allegedly advised her — and others — to do the same.
Smithline claims since she had begun to believe what she was “told” about Manson, she allegedly allowed Gore to draft and then post a statement onto her Instagram.
“The narrative ultimately posted to my account on or around February 1, 2021 contained untrue statements about Mr. Warner, including that there was violence and non-consensual sexual activity in our brief relationship, and that I had repressed memories of
the same,” the model says in her declaration.
Page Six has reached out to Wood and Gore for comment.
Manson’s attorney, Howard King, tells Page Six that Smithline contacted him and his team of her own volition last week and has apologized to the singer.
“She was a reluctant participant [in Wood’s alleged scheme] from the get-go,” the lawyer says, noting that Smithline told him she never had any financial motivation for allegedly “lying” about Manson.
“For a moment in time, having been questioned so many times by Evan Rachel Wood about this ‘repressed memory’ and being told, ‘You’re not remembering what happened,’ she believed it for a minute.”
King also points out that the attorney who represented Smithline in her lawsuit against Manson, Jay Ellwanger, was allegedly “given to her” by Esmé Bianco, who had her own sexual assault suit against the “Beautiful People” singer.
“[Ellwanger] wrote a complaint without talking to [Smithline] about what the factual allegations were and they filed it,” King alleges. “They wore her down.”
Ellwanger tells Page Six that his response is “constrained by ethical obligations regarding client confidentiality, even to a former client,” but adds that the “specific allegations” we described “are categorically and verifiably false.”
King claims Smithline felt “uncomfortable” filming Wood’s documentary, “Phoenix Rising,” and very quickly realized she was not being “honorable.”
When asked why the model continued to reiterate her rape claims to the press at different times, the attorney reasserts that Smithline felt “emotionally manipulated” by Wood, Bianco, 40, and Ellwanger.
King also tells Page Six that Smithline has not been compensated for speaking in favor of his client and against Wood — which the model also affirms herself in her declaration.
“I never received any money from Mr. Warner and am not seeking any money from him,” Smithline says. “I have no intention of refiling any lawsuit against Mr. Warner.”
She concludes, “Looking back, I feel I was manipulated by Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, Ms. Bianco and Mr. Ellwanger to spread publicly false accusations of abuse against Mr. Warner.”
Page Six has reached out to Bianco for comment.
Aside from Smithline’s case dismissal, Walter’s lawsuit was also dismissed in May 2022 after a judge ruled that it had surpassed the statute of limitations. Bianco’s case was settled outside of court earlier this year.
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When asked whether the settlement was a way to financially compensate an alleged victim in order for them to “quietly go away,” King tells Page Six that Bianco was the only one who has gotten paid and that she got a “fraction” of what she was asking for.
“It was paid for primarily by an insurance company,” the top Hollywood attorney adds. “Had we known that Smithline was going to come forward with this type of information, Brian would not have paid a cent even if it was insurance company money.
“We were facing months and months of legal fees, the insurance money was running out and the insurance company offered to pay a significant portion of the settlement,” he further explains.
King claims that it would not have been costly for Bianco to continue fighting the suit on her behalf because the lawyer representing alleged victims is paid via a “contingency” fee, meaning the attorneys don’t get paid unless they win the case.
There is one woman, however, left standing in a court of law: an accuser known only as Jane Doe, who claimed Manson sexually assaulted her when she was just a teen.
“Brian has never met that girl — unless they shook hands at a meet-and-greet,” King says in response, claiming there are “rampant inconsistencies” in her story. “That lawsuit is ripe with incendiary, irrelevant factual allegations. It didn’t happen.”
Meanwhile, Manson has filed his own lawsuit; he’s suing Wood for conspiracy and Gore for defamation, insisting they had conspired against him for their own financial gain.
Gore previously denied accusations that she coerced women. Wood, who dated the “Sweet Dreams” rocker from 2006 to 2010 and was briefly engaged to him, has maintained she has the “truth” on her side.