DEFENSE CRUMBLES

Marilyn Manson’s Defamation Case Against Evan Rachel Wood Isn’t Going Well

The actor accused Marilyn Manson of sexual abuse and torture. Then he sued her for defamation. Now, his case is falling apart.

A judge has thrown out ten defamation claims made by Marilyn Manson against the actor Evan Rachel Wood in a lawsuit currently working its way through a Los Angeles civil court. Manson, who was accused by Wood of sexual abuse and torture in the documentary Phoenix Rising, sued her for defamation last year. He alleged that Wood had falsely cast him as a “rapist and abuser” and derailed his career. In a ruling on Tuesday, a Los Angeles court threw out some of Manson’s allegations, including one that Wood forged an FBI letter suggesting Manson was the subject of a federal investigation, and another that she “recruited” other victims using a checklist. The judge cited California’s anti-SLAPP statute in the ruling, a law that protects individuals’ freedom of speech. The case will proceed with the remaining allegations not struck down by the judge.