Since 2021, more than a dozen women have come forward to accuse musician Marilyn Manson, real name Brian Warner, of psychological abuse and sexual assault. Now one of them, model Ashley Morgan Smithline, has recanted her story and claims that some of Manson’s other alleged victims convinced her that she had repressed memories of his abuse, leading Smithline to make false accusations.
She first came forward with allegations of sexual assault against Manson in February 2021 alongside other accusers including the actors Evan Rachel Wood and Esmé Bianco. They all shared similarly gruesome stories of physical and psychological abuse, torture, branding, whipping, and drugging. In June 2021, Smithline filed the fourth of five lawsuits against Manson that stemmed from those allegations, seeking damages for sexual assault, sexual battery, and human trafficking.
Since then, one of those lawsuits, brought by Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters, was dismissed over the statute of limitations, and Bianco settled with the singer earlier this year. In January, Smithline’s case was dismissed after her lawyer, Jay Ellwanger, withdrew from the case and she failed to replace her legal representation.
Smithline has not filed a new legal claim, but she has provided signed testimony in a motion filed on Thursday as part of Manson’s defamation lawsuit against Wood and the activist Illma Gore, whom he alleges had conspired to mount a campaign of lies about his consensual relationships. Ahead...
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