Marilyn Manson Drops Lawsuit Against Evan Rachel Wood

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rocker Marilyn Manson has agreed to drop a lawsuit against his former fiancée, “Westworld” actor Evan Rachel Wood, and to pay her attorneys’ fees, lawyers for both sides said Tuesday.

The move comes 18 months after a Los Angeles County judge threw out much of the 2022 suit in which Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, claimed Wood had fabricated public allegations that he sexually and physically abused her during their relationship and encouraged other women to fabricate their own allegations.

“After four years of fighting a battle where he was able to tell the truth, Brian is pleased to dismiss his still-pending claims and appeal in order to close the door on this chapter of his life,” Manson attorney Howard King said in a statement.

Manson had been appealing the judge’s decision but his attorneys reached out to Wood’s seeking a settlement in the spring. Wood’s attorneys said Tuesday that she rejected requests that the terms be kept confidential.

Manson “filed a lawsuit against Ms. Wood as a publicity stunt to try to undermine the credibility of his many accusers and revive his faltering career,” Wood’s lawyer Michael J. Kump said in a statement. “But his attempt to silence and intimidate Ms. Wood failed.”

Manson agreed to pay nearly $327,000 in attorney fees for Wood.

The settlement comes nearly four years into a criminal investigation of the 55-year-old Manson involving multiple women that remains unresolved. Outgoing LA County District Attorney George Gascón said in October that his office’s sex crimes division had just discovered new evidence and that a decision on whether to file charges would be made when the picture was more complete.

The women involved in the criminal case have not been identified, but “Game of Thrones” actor Esme Bianco has said she was among them, and criticized the district attorney for taking so long to investigate. Bianco settled her own lawsuit against Manson last year.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Wood and Bianco have.

Manson has denied engaging in any non-consensual sexual acts.

In 2017, with the #MeToo movement gaining momentum, Wood said publicly that she had been raped and abused, and gave testimony on the subject to a Congressional committee in 2018, but did not name anyone in either instance.