Ashley Morgan Smithline recants sexual assault allegations against Marilyn Manson
Ashley Morgan Smithline claims Evan Rachel Wood and her partner Ilma Gore "manipulated" her to make false allegations against Marilyn Manson
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New updates in Marilyn Manson’s defamation court case against Evan Rachel Wood and Ilma Gore: the legal team of the musician also known as Brian Warner has filed a declaration statement from Ashley Morgan Smithline, one of his accusers, into evidence, per Pitchfork. First filed in June 2022, Smithline’s lawsuit was dismissed in January 2023 after she failed to hire new legal representation. The A.V. Club has reached out to both Warner and Woods’ respective legal teams for comment.
In the declaration statement, Smithline recants her allegations against Warner, claiming that Wood and Gore “manipulated” her into making false accusations and she ultimately “succumbed to pressure.” Smithline also states that she never gave her attorney permission to file the initial lawsuit.
Smithline first went public with descriptions of Warner’s alleged abuse in a February 2021 statement on Instagram— she later further detailed her experiences to People Magazine in May 2021. She accused Warner of rape, sexual assault, and coercion. “I have bonded with the five other main girls who went through this, and we have found such a strength in numbers,” she shared at the time. “And our stories are all fucking identical, it’s disgusting.”
In the same People interview, Smithline revealed to the magazine a scar on her upper thigh that she claimed was a result of Warner carving his initials into her skin. In her new statement, Smithline denies that Warner ever carved or branded her.
Read Smithline’s full declaration statement, obtained by Pitchfork, below:
I, Ashley Lindsay Morgan Smithline, declares as follows:
1. In November 2010, I had a brief, consensual sexual relationship with Brian Warner, also known as Marilyn Manson, during a trip I took to Los Angeles from Thailand, where I was living.
2. Ten years later, 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.
3. In 2020, I was contacted by either Ashley Walters or Illma Gore to participate in a group meeting of women who, they said, had relationships or experiences with Mr. Warner. (I knew Ms. Walters from my trip to Los Angeles in 2010. She was Mr. Warner’s assistant, and she arranged my travel. I also spent time with her during the trip.) Ultimately, I participated in at least one such group call and a meeting that was filmed in October 2020 (which I only later learned was for Phoenix Rising). From this time in 2020 through June 2021, I had many communications with Ms. Wood.
4. During my conversations with Ms. Wood, she described acts allegedly committed by Mr. Warner against Ms. Wood and other supposed victims and asked me whether the same things happened to me. I remember she asked me whether I had been, among other things, whipped, chained, tied up, branded/cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or raped. She said all of these things happened to Ms. Wood and others, and that when Ms. Wood was with Mr. Warner every moment was a moment of survival. When I said, no this did not happen to me and this was not my experience, I recall being told by Ms. Wood that just because I could not remember did not necessarily mean that it did not happen.
5. While at first I knew Mr. Warner did not do these things to me, I eventually I began to question whether he actually did. On numerous occasions, I was told by Ms. Wood, Esme Bianco and others that these things happened to Ms. Wood and Ms. Bianco; asked whether the same things happened to me; and told that I may just be misremembering what happened, repressing my memories of what happened, or that my memories had not yet surfaced—which they said happened to people against whom these acts were perpetrated. I was asked whether I was repressing memories to just get through day-to-day life, and whether it was easier just to not think about what actually happened than accept reality. They also said it was important for people to come forward so that no one else gets hurt.
6. I also recall that in one of the group meetings I attended with Ms. Wood and Ms. Gore, Ms. Gore said they could arrange security for anyone who felt in danger from Mr. Warner. I recall that Ms. Bianco said during this discussion that private investigators had been parked outside of her house and probably were parked outside of mine. I also had separate conversations with Ms. Bianco during this time period in which she told me her relationship with Mr. Warner was similar to that described by Ms. Wood. She insisted that I was repressing memories like she and other supposed victims of Mr. Warner had done.
7. Eventually, I started to believe that what I was repeatedly told happened to Ms. Wood and Ms. Bianco also happened to me.
8. In or around January 2021, I attended a call on which Ms. Wood said that on a certain day she would post to her social media naming Mr. Warner as her abuser, and that we all should do the same on or around the same day. I discussed with Ms. Gore making such a statement on my Instagram page accusing Mr. Warner of abuse. Ms. Gore drafted the statement, and I gave her my password to post it. The narrative ultimately posted to my account on or around February 1, 2021 contained untrue statements about Mr. Warner, including that there was violence and non-consensual sexual activity in our brief relationship, and that I had repressed memories of the same. As another example, there was no branding or cutting experienced during the brief relationship and certainly no “Marilyn Manson” initials carved on my body.
9. On June 29, 2021, a complaint was filed in the lawsuit Ashley Lindsay Morgan Smithline v. Brian Warner et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-5289. The complaint was filed by my attorney at the time, Jay Ellwanger. Ms. Bianco told me Mr. Ellwanger was her lawyer and that I should use him. Mr. Ellwanger did not review the contents of the complaint with me before filing it and did not send me a draft of the complaint to approve before filing it. The complaint contained untrue statements about Mr. Warner, including that there was violence and non-consensual sexual activity in our brief relationship, and that I had repressed memories of the same until meeting with Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, and others in 2020. Leading up to the filing of the complaint, I felt pressured by Mr. Ellwanger to go on a press tour, which included an interview on The View and an interview and photoshoot with People magazine. I was very uncomfortable doing this press but felt pressured to do it.
10. After the lawsuit was filed on my behalf, I fired Mr. Ellwanger, and the case was dismissed. I never received any money from Mr. Warner and am not seeking any money from him. I have no intention of refiling any lawsuit against Mr. Warner.
11. I never intended to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Warner and have no intention now of ever pursuing criminal charges, as Mr. Warner did not ever assault or abuse me.
12. Looking back, I feel I was manipulated by Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, Ms. Bianco, and Mr. Ellwanger to spread publicly false accusations of abuse against Mr. Warner.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.
If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual abuse, contact the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
54 Comments
This is why we can’t have nice things.
This sucks. Whatever the truth is, she’s potentially tainted the entire case. I find it hard to trust Brian Warner over the accusers, and the declaration feels more coerced than anything I heard before. But then I’m coming from a place where I know what it’s like to consider the pros and cons of accusing a person, of going through it all in painful detail, so maybe my bias is showing.
I don’t think it should diminish the case. People who will objectively listen to the evidence and statements will still do that. People who won’t, weren’t ever going to. He can be guilty of things even if he’s not guilty of this thing.
I really hope that’s the case. I just get a little cynical. People who don’t know what abuse actually does to you in the long term that instantly dismiss a person coming forward years/decades later for example seem to be very loud. They may well only represent a small minority, but it’s dispiriting to see.
Don’t close the barn door after you throw out the baby.
Can I at least cry over hatched chickens?
I mean, I get it. There’s such a little chance of actually getting justice against your abuser with the systems we have going on. If your abuser is rich enough to offer you a big bunch of cash to keep quiet, there’s a big temptation to just take that cash and try to get on with your life the best you can.
Sounds like somebody got to her, I despair of justice being served to people like Manson. I feel so badly for Ms. Wood, she was brave but I suspect its going to be another Amber Heard result.
so when she makes a claim we are supposed to believe her, but when she recants, we don’t believe her? Make that make sense?
Or she’s a fucking liar.
limp
or maybe just believe the woman and her statement?
“or maybe just believe the woman and her statement?”
Wow, cuntfuck, you’re really smart, eh? SHE MADE TWO CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS.Weird that you choose to believe the one that absolves the abuser.
Which one though? The thing about completely changing your story is that it makes you completely unreliable on either side of the flip.
Lawyers for Wood and Gore will likely get a chance to question and collect discovery from Smithline to try to show she changed her story due to some bride, intimidation, etc. And of course Smithline’s claims about her relationship with Manson are only indirectly related to the question of whether Wood’s claims of abuse are true. But, while I’m inclined to think Wood is telling the truth about abuse by Manson, there’s no getting around that this is very bad news for her, and puts her is serious legal jeopardy.
“there’s no getting around that this is very bad news for her, and puts her is serious legal jeopardy.”
Right, because now they have one less than they half-dozen reports of him raping women.
Abusers don’t necessarily abuse everyone they know. It’s very possible he was abusive to Wood and others and not to Smithline. It’s also possible that Wood pressured Smithline to a certain perspective from a well meaning place – Trying to get someone who was abused to see the abuse isn’t always easy.Unfortunately, these types of headlines and stories are apt to set the MeToo movement and others back.
I think it’s helpful not to think of stories like this as “setting back” the MeToo movement, but instead more realistically adjusting its expectations. Getting justice for sexual assault victims is always going to be a difficult, frustrating process, and not only because of misogyny or society’s willingness to dismiss women’s allegations (though certainly that’s a big part of it). Sexual abuse is, by its very nature, a crime that tends to take place in private, and involves an act — sex — that lots of us happily engage in. So these cases are always going to depend a lot on witness testimony. When you add in the fact that many of these cases concern acts that happened years or even decades ago, the problems of proving a case only grow. Is the MeToo movement set back when we’re reminded that witnesses sometimes give conflicting testimony, and that that means that some people accused of assault will not be found guilty? On some level, yes. On another, we’re just arriving at a more realistic way of thinking about these cases.
Stories like this? You mean accurately reporting events?And yes, Smithline never suggested that Warner didn’t abuse others. She just clarified that it wasn’t her experience. I didn’t read anything where she claimed he was innocent.
I meant stories like the actual events (i.e. someone is or claims to have been coerced) and the proliferation of those stories via news.
“Abusers don’t necessarily abuse everyone they know. It’s very possible he was abusive to Wood and others and not to Smithline.”
And it’s also very possible that he did abuse Smithline.
This. The fact that Gary Ridgway was married while he was committing his murders, should highlight that abusers are not universally so, but rather they select and groom their victims, all while nursing ostensibly normal, “healthy” relationships that serve as a convenient cover.
I think Smithline’s account just paints a picture of someone potentially misremembering things through partaking in the group therapy sessions, and Wood and her counsel believing this to be the reality. It doesn’t discredit Wood and the other women abused.
It’s more than just misremembering things; she’s saying that she was actively pressured by Wood and the other individuals referenced. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) absolve Warner of anything, but if true it does put a dent in the credibility of the individuals involved.
Agreed, but I very much think it will be used to discredit Wood.
You don’t think it discredits Wood that she manipulated someone into making false accusations?
I don’t think it discredits Wood. But it would be consistent with a view of the facts where Wood and Gore were attempting to generate stories of Manson as an abuser, and didn’t particularly care about the truth of those accusations.Now, it’s important to remember the posture of this case. This isn’t a criminal case against Manson, where the prosecution would have to establish he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (I think that would be very hard under these circumstances.) This is a defamation case against Wood and Gore, where Manson bears the burden of proof, and where there are some very helpful standards for defendants because of the First Amendment.
This is all many will need to dismiss the entire thing as “woke” scam…
I’m not a lawyer, but this seems bad for this Ellwanger fellow
We can tell, because this Ellwanger fellow will emerge absolutely unscathed.
I would like to know how this declaration came to exist. She’s admitting to defaming Manson. If it’s false, she’s probably defaming her former counsel.
Seems likely that confessing to the defamation was a condition of some kind of agreement for him to not also sue her for defamation. At this point, she blew her own case and potentially has some liability (remember Amber Heard), so it is safer to just protect herself.
Believe all women!
(Unless it conflicts with the dominant narrative or challenges your worldview).
What an original take.
As are all the others.
None of us will never know the truth, but when spinning out scenarios, lying about the whole thing is as valid as anything else. It’s possible the reason for this recantation could be that when she was confronted with how far to take the lie down the road, she decided to end it.
Where ever did you get the idea of using a slogan created to support women against them? And this one in particular? How did you ever come up with rhetoric of this caliber?You must be some kind of a deep thinker!
its not support if it just believe. Its blanket judgement against the other person, like there is now way a woman would ever lie about something so horrible.
It doesn’t have to be an original take to be a good point, and one that no one here seems to be taking.
Burn.
well its true. stop saying believe all women and say take the accusation seriously and investigate. But to automatically believe is not fair to the men or any person who might be innocent.
eat a dick
Looks like you got plenty to share, serve em up.
i do have a pretty big dick
Excellent, serve it up.
This is going to turn into another Depp/Heard war isn’t it? Ugh.
The big difference here is that there are people who actually like Johnny Depp as a person.
True. I legitimately do not understand why anyone could like Marilyn Manson. Depp I at least grasp.
I, Ashley Lindsay Morgan Smithline, declaresI know this isn’t the most important takeaway but… “l declares”?
Not to demean other members of my noble profession, but lawyers almost always start with templates for things like that, and it’s not terribly uncommon to forget to change something on a cut/paste job.
I’m sorry but that statement reads like utter drivel. It is basically saying that it was everyone else’s fault that she made an accusation that wasn’t true. She was coerced, pressured, someone else posted a statement to her facebook, the lawyer seemingly took it upon himself to raise a complaint, she was made to access Gore’s lawyer, etc etc. All of these things would have needed significant input and proaction from her.That’s not to say Warner is not an abuser, but this stinks.
betcha he just threw a lot of money at the problem
… nah fuck that. And fuck Manson.
If we’re to believe women and their stories, that shouldn’t change depending on what story they tell. It’s hypocrisy to make offensive assumptions about this woman and her motives (money, intimidation, etc.). I’m gonna choose to believe her, just as we’re supposed to believe accusers. Believing women means believing women.
Asking to trust someone who hasn’t in one way or another demonstrably made a bunch of really fucked up lies isn’t the same as asking to trust someone who has