Marilyn Manson has had most of his defamation case against Evan Rachel Wood thrown out.
Marilyn Manson is locked in a lawsuit with former fiancee Evan Rachel Wood
The 'Rock is Dead' hitmaker had accused his former fiancee of fabricating allegations he abused her during their relationship and encouraged other women to do the same, arguing the 'Westworld' star and another woman, Illma Gore, had defamed him, intentionally caused emotional distress and derailed his career.
But on Tuesday (09.05.23), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa A. Beaudet dismissed the part of the lawsuit dealing with a disputed FBI letter - which Manson accused Evan of forging - and also tossed out a section alleging the two defendants used a checklist found on an iPad for other women to use to make their own abuse claims.
Though the judge didn't rule on the legitimacy of the FBI letter, she found the evidence Evan and Illma had allegedly used it to recruit other women to harm Manson to be hypothetical and flimsy, and felt there wasn't enough evidence to show they had created the checklist, so declared the probability of the 'Beautiful People' singer's claim being successful to be low.
The ruling relied on California law that protects the free speech of defendants being harmed by lawsuits.
The 35-year-old actress' lawyer, Michael Kump, said in a statement: "We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling, which affirms and protects Evan’s exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights.
“As the Court correctly found, Plaintiff failed to show that his claims against her have even minimal merit.”
Manson - whose real name is Brian Warner - is planning an appeal.
His attorney, Howard King, declared in an email: “The ruling is disappointing but not unexpected. The Court telegraphed this outcome when it refused to consider the bombshell sworn declaration of former plaintiff Ashley Smithline, which detailed how women were systematically pressured by Evan Rachel Wood and Illma Gore to make false claims about Brian Warner.”
The judge overruled Evan's motion to dismiss other parts of the lawsuit that alleged she and Illma had intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
Remaining sections of the lawsuit include allegations the women hacked Manson's email, phone and social media accounts, created a fake email account to allegedly create evidence the disgraced rocker was sending illegal pornography, and made a prank call to send authorities to his home.
Esme Bianco has previously settled a lawsuit against Manson, while his ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline previously retracted her allegations against him after stating in a court declaration she had been "manipulated" by the 'Wrestler' actress.
Manson has denied all the allegations against him.
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