Last week, Marilyn Manson accuser Ashley Morgan Smithline claimed she was "manipulated" by Manson's former girlfriend and fellow accuser Evan Rachel Wood. In a statement, Smithline said she "succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against Mr. Warner that were not true. Eventually, I started to believe that what I was repeatedly told happened to Ms. Wood and [others] also happened to me."
According to a report by Rolling Stone, Wood has refuted that she pressured Smithline into making any claims against Manson in a new legal declaration. Wood provided screenshots of Instagram comments, text messages, direct messages, and voicemails from Smithline dating back to 2019 to back her claim up.
"In Monday's filing, obtained by Rolling Stone, Wood denied ever manipulating model Ashley Morgan Smithline and provided Instagram screenshots of comments from Smithline left on Wood's Instagram in 2019, messages between Smithline and Wood where the model stood by her accusations against Manson, and a 2022 voicemail from Smithline to a friend in which she said she believed Manson's attorney wanted her to 'turn on the other girls and say it was all a ruse,'" reads a segment of the report by Tomás Mier.
"In the filing, Wood referred to a March 2019 comment in which Smithline 'referenced information about my private experiences with Warner' when Manson (whose real name is Brian Warner) allegedly abused Wood while 'making her watch a particular scene from Rules of Attraction.'"
Smithline has since responded to Wood's filing, saying "Evan's full of shit. That's my comment. She's saying anything she can to discredit me."
The case against Manson brought forth by Smithline was dismissed in January. Smithline's attorney Jay Ellwanger backed out of representing her in October, and Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha offered Smithline 90 days to either hire a new attorney or represent herself. Smithline did neither by the December 5 deadline and the case was officially dismissed without prejudice on Tuesday, January 3.
Smithline accused Manson of of sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment in a cover story for People in May 2021.
Manson filed a lawsuit against Wood for defamation, emotional distress, and "impersonation over the internet" in May 2022. In the lawsuit, Manson accused Wood and her friend Illma Gore of conspiring to paint Manson as "a rapist and abuser." This lawsuit from Manson surfaces only a few weeks after Wood's documentary Phoenix Rising was announced to be released on HBO. Wood has since questioned the timing of Manson's lawsuit.
