While Marilyn Manson is in the process of suing Evan Rachel Wood for allegedly orchestrating an “organized attack” of false sexual assault accusations, one of the accusers, Ashley Morgan Smithline, has recanted her claims. Manson’s lawyers filed a statement on February 23 in which Smithline claims that she had been “manipulated by Ms. Wood” and others to the point that she agreed to “spread publicly false accusations of abuse” against Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner.
“I succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against Mr. Warner that were not true,” wrote Smithline in her sworn statement. “Eventually, I started to believe that what I was repeatedly told happened to Ms. Wood and (others) also happened to me.”
A spokesperson for Evan Rachel Wood vehemently denied Smithline’s allegations, telling Billboard that “Evan never pressured or manipulated Ashley. It was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered. It’s unfortunate that the harassment and threats Ashley received after filing her federal lawsuit appear to have pressured her to change her testimony.”
At least five women have...
This story is the second in an ongoing series on the Cost of Fraud, as Open the Books tallies the hidden fees on American tax returns. Click here to read the first story on fraudulent autism billi...