Earlier this week singer Marilyn Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, reached a settlement with an ex-girlfriend who accused him of rape. The woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” filed her suit in 2021 — the pair were set to face off in court next week. On Wednesday, Jane Doe’s attorney Adam Wolf filed a notice of settlement in Los Angeles.
Manson’s attorney Howard King commented, “Brian is pleased that, just as previous lawsuits were abandoned without payment or settled for pennies on the dollar, this plaintiff has now agreed to drop her suit in exchange for an insurance payment representing a fraction of her demands and far less than the cost to Brian of proceeding to trial.”
Doe issued her own statement to Rolling Stone and explained why she dropped the suit: “threats, bullying, harassment and various forms of intimidation that have intensified over the past few weeks.” Additionally, she was “forced to answer seven hours of aggressive questioning with him staring at me from across the table.”
“I’ve been told that this almost never happens, as it’s cruel, and that a main reason for it would be to intimidate and inflict emotional distress on a victim,” she continued. “I never cared about money and only ever wanted justice, but if we had gone to trial, I could have lost my right to anonymity and been victim-blamed on a large and public scale.”
“Most importantly I could have risked losing the freedom to tell my story, and that is worth more than anything in the world,” she concluded.
Doe filed her suit in 2021 and accused the singer of mental abuse, rape and of forcing her to drink urine. In the lawsuit, she acknowledges that the pair had a consensual relationship at first, but Warner soon became increasingly violent. At one point, the suit states, he “forcibly pushed her to the ground. With her face down on the carpet, and his hands on top of her, Warner raped and threatened to kill her.”
Manson has previously been accused of rape, abuse, grooming a minor and other crimes in multiple cases. “Westworld” Actress Evan Rachel Wood was his highest-profile accuser. Her battle against Manson was captured in the film “Phoenix Rising.” “Game of Thrones” actress Esmé Bianco was also among those who accused Manson of sexual assault. Manson sued Wood for defamation.
Warner’s lawyer rejected Doe’s claim that she wanted to share her story. He said, “If this individual had actually wanted to share her story, she could have done so in front of a jury next week. Instead, as soon as the facts came out, showing that her case was meritless, she settled for pennies on the dollar.”
