New testimony states that Evan Rachel Wood manipulated Ashley Morgan Smithline into falsely accusing Marilyn Manson of abuse and her ex-girlfriend drafted and published the statement. That’s bombshell news Smithline is telling Los Angeles County Superior Court this week in a sworn declaration she filed in support of Manson’s case against Gore and Wood for orchestrating an alleged conspiracy against him.
So for those who have been waiting for a whistleblower to emerge from the accusers — she has arrived!
Months of court documents and evidence shown by Manson’s legal team have indicated this is the direction we were heading. And as Wood continues to have shown no evidence to support her own claims of abuse and two years of criminal investigations with no charges filed later – the argument Manson’s counsel makes that he’s been at the center of a conspiracy hoax is starting to make sense more and more.
Evan Rachel Wood Manipulated Ashley Smithline Into Lying According to Testimony
Within her sworn testimony, Ashley Smithline describes her reasoning that Evan Rachel Wood manipulated her.
Smithline testified she was contacted to join women in talking about past experiences with Manson. One such meeting was filmed for Wood’s Phoenix Rising “documentary” that was featured a staged discussion on Manson in October 2020 where Wood describes alleged abuse to a group – including Smithline. She went on to say that in these initial conversations where others spoke about alleged abuse she knew what they were alleging did not occur within the consensual relationship she had with Manson when the two spent a week together in November 2010.
But, over the course of the next couple months — Evan Rachel Wood and Game of Thrones actress Esme Bianco repeatedly spoke on these claims. Smithline testifies that when she would tell them she had not been abused they suggested she was suppressing the memories and Wood telling her that just because she couldn’t remember abuse doesn’t mean it did not happen.
Smithline testified that these repeated conversations as well as Bianco allegedly telling her there were private investigators outside Bianco’s private home and that they were probably watching Smithline as well — it began to mess with her head.
That prompted Smithline to ultimately come forward alongside Evan Rachel Wood on February 1, 2021 with a statement posted on her then Instagram account with abuse claims that matched methods of abuse Evan and Esme repeatedly asked her about with suggestions that she was was suppressing these traumatic memories and that’s why she didn’t remember being “abused.”
Smithline then goes on to testify that the statement shared on her then Instagram profile was drafted and published by Wood’s ex-girlfriend Ashley Illma Gore. And that checks out with evidence Manson’s legal team presented in November 2022 that includes messages from an old iPad of Gore’s with a drafted statement signed by “Ashley Morgan Smihline.”
NOTE: Illma gave this old iPad to her twin sister, Bryton, for her kids to use after the screen cracked. Upon finding draft messages of a fake FBI letter and signs of other poor conduct against Manson on it months later, Bryton went onto turn the device over to Manson for his legal team’s use. Brytron also filed a sworn statement in July 2022 to support Manson’s case.
CANCELLED
Drafted and published by Ashley Illma Gore, says Smithline – the impact of being named as an abuser on February 1, 2021 had immediate impact on Manson’s career and reputation.
He was dropped the next day by his then record label Loma Vista Recordings and cut from television roles on Starz’s American Gods and Shudder’s original series Creepshow. Manson has since not toured, released new work or sat for any interviews – but he issued a written statement and continues to vehemently deny the allegations against him in court:
“Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy – but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misrepresent the past; that is the truth.”
The allegations of the female accusers were investigated by the LA County Sheriff’s Department as well as the FBI in multiple states but now more than two years later – no criminal charges have been filed against Manson and he maintains all allegations against him are false.
THE CASE AGAINST GORE AND WOOD
In March 2022, Manson made waves by filing a lawsuit against actress Evan Rachel Wood and Ashley Illma Gore where he accuses them of intentional infliction of emotional distress and alleges the two led a conspiracy against him that involved hacking his accounts, impersonating him online, making false reports to the police, filing a fake FBI letter they drafted and filed in court, spreading a false and defamatory rumor that a short horror film he appeared in in the nineties was child porn and more.
That case has been cruising along at a snail’s pace because of a heated legal battle over anti-slapp motions to strike that both Wood and Gore filed in Spring 2022 to strike portions of Manson’s lawsuit – like the fake FBI letter – as protected “free speech”. A hearing on this has been repeatedly delayed and rescheduled because of a large number of objections all parties have lodged to one another’s evidence.
The newest date for the anti-slapp hearing is scheduled for April 11, 2023.
In preparation, Manson’s attorneys filed an application to submit Smithline’s testimony in advance of the hearing. Attorneys for Gore and Wood opposed this, naturally.
FEB. 28 UPDATE: The matter was heard before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Beaudet who ruled against Manson at this time. Smithline’s testimony can be filed again once the case enters discovery but it will not factor into her decision to grant or deny the motions to strike.
@justice4marilynmanson Big news! Thank you Ashley Smithline for continuing to do the right thing. #justiceformarilynmanson #pagesix ♬ Play with Fire (feat. Yacht Money) – Sam Tinnesz
EDITED FEB. 28, 2023
A Feb. 28, 2023 hearing was held with appearances by attorneys for Ashley Illma Gore, Evan Rachel Wood and Manson to discuss Smithline’s testimony entering the case at this phase ahead of the anti-slapp hearing that’s currently scheduled for April 11, 2023.
The judge ultimately ruled in favor of Gore and Wood at this time — upholding the stay from new evidence being filed in the case since Dec. 1, 2022 until the anti-slapp motions are decided by the court. Smithline’s sworn statement can be filed into the case once it enters discovery and she could offer additional testimony in the future.
Not letting the judge’s ruling get to her, Smithline double and tripled down on her testimony that Evan Rachel Wood manipulated her into believing she had suppressed memories and into making false abuse allegations against Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson.
She gave a statement to Rolling Stones’ Tomas Mier that Wood is full of sh*t.
Mier penned the now disgraced May 2021 People magazine cover story that interviewed Smithline on her abuse allegations and gave them a large platform before the world without any evidence provided to support her claims.
In Feb. 2023, Mier significantly cut a large portion of Smithline’s statement to him but she provided me with it in its entirety to share:
Also on Feb. 28, 2023 — Ashley Smithline appeared on Popcorned Planet‘s YouTube channel to explain how Evan Rachel Wood manipulated her to lie and the duress she was under at a low point in her life when she attended the meeting filmed for the Phoenix Rising project and later in interviews with The View and People magazine.
PHONE CALL STARTS AT 1 HOUR 51 MINUTES:
A COUPLE OF CLIPS:
@justice4marilynmanson Thank you, @ashleymorgansmithline ♬ In the End – Linkin Park
@justice4marilynmansonPart 2 | Ashley Morgan Smithline on Evan Rachel Wood manipulating her into lying about abuse.♬ Sunshine – WIRA