While a case rolls along in California’s 2nd District Appellate Court, the Marilyn Manson anti-slapp appeal has halted a May 2024 scheduled trial in his LA case against actress Evan Rachel Wood and her former employee and girlfriend Ashley Illma Gore.
ANTI-SLAPP MOTIONS FILED
As a refresher – the journey to LA Superior Court’s May 2023 anti-slapp decision was a long and tenuous one with many hearings, delays and evidentiary objections. The rockstar initially filed a lawsuit against the ladies in March 2022 that both Illma Gore and Evan Rachel Wood quickly responded to with anti-slapp motions to strike portions of the claims of fraud as protected free speech.
In the months to follow, Gore and Wood lodged many objections to evidence and testimony in support of Manson’s case indicating the two impersonated a real federal agent when forging an “FBI” letter as falsified evidence in a legal matter. Manson also filed evidence that his private accounts were hacked and he was defamed when a short horror film he produced in the 90s named “Groupie” was egregiously mischaracterized as child pornography.
Ashley Illma Gore, who has never met Marilyn Manson or seen the project, was telling multiple people the actress was a minor and went on to commit suicide from the “trauma” endured while filming.
The actress, Pola Weiss, is alive and well.
Weiss also filed testimony to support Manson’s case that she was over the age of 21 at the time of filming, actively involved in the creative process, was not traumatized in anyway and quite enjoyed being part of the project.
Ashley Illma Gore went on to sit for a deposition in Fall 2023 where she explained how she had her facts and actresses mixed up.
ANTI-SLAPP MOTIONS GRANTED
In May 2023, LA Superior Court Judge Teresa Beaudet shared her ruling – granting both Gore and Wood’s motions to strike.
It was a controversial opinion as she reasoned there’s no conclusive evidence forging a federal document impersonating law enforcement is a crime. (It is.) Beaudet also overlooked evidence and arguments that Wood couldn’t claim purely “litigation privilege” for filing false evidence in court (which arguably makes it an even larger offense) by leaking it to the Daily Mail in Dec. 2021 with an egregiously false accusation that Manson threatened her child.
This was Wood’s reasoning to the court as to why she was withholding her son from his father in the LA area for months. She’s since lost custody.
The Daily Mail ‘exclusive’ included court documents that include a copy of the fake letter from her custody battle. The copyright insignia alongside the court papers lists the law firm of Wood’s attorney Samantha Spector.
It’s possible this was a move made by Wood to get ahead of the issue as weeks prior, Ashley Illma Gore’s sister Bryton Gore uncovered evidence of the forged document and despite Wood’s pleas over the phone — refused to stay silent on the matter.
MARILYN MANSON ANTI-SLAPP APPEAL HALTS TRIAL
After the anti-slapp motions were granted last May, Manson was faced with the choice of appealing the court’s decision or moving with the larger elements of his lawsuit that related to further fraud and conspiracy claims. He went on to file a intention of his appeal in the weeks that followed and it’s been a slow journey to the opening brief since.
Most recently met a Feb. 13 deadline in appellate court after an extension. As the appeal case continues to evolve, all parties filed a recent joint stipulation in LA County agreeing that the May 2024 scheduled trial will need to be vacated.
The judge agreed – granting their proposed order and the trial has now been postponed indefinitely. The next court date is not till June 2025 (always subject to change) – when parties will reconvene to assess where things stand before moving forward.
The outcome of the appeal will need to be finalized before any future trial can take place.