Shock rocker Marilyn Manson is seeking to reignite his defamation lawsuit against ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood, alleging she forged a letter from the FBI to fortify her claims of sexual abuse.
Manson, known legally as Brian Warner, had sued Wood and her current partner, artist Illma Gore, in 2022 for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His suit claimed Wood had fabricated allegations of sexual assault during their relationship, cooking up fake email accounts and FBI agents to buttress her accusations.
Large parts of the suit were dismissed, and Manson was ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in legal fees to Wood and Gore, Rolling Stone reported at the time.
On Tuesday, Manson appealed the dismissal, supplying the allegedly fake FBI letter as evidence that Wood had made the entire thing up. He claimed the fact that Wood said she had not forged the letter spoke to the fact that she didn’t deny it was forged, according to TMZ.
Manson also took issue with a lower court judge ignoring the fact that one accuser had recanted her abuse allegations last year, claiming she was “manipulated” into making false claims.
The rocker filed his 92-page appeal in Los Angeles on Tuesday, claiming he can prove that Wood “recruited, pressured and coached others to make heinous, untrue accusations” and had spread lies, hacked his accounts, manufactured fictitious emails and swatted his home, Rolling Stone reported.
His attorneys allege the FBI letter was concocted to “create the false appearance that Warner was under FBI investigation and his ‘victims’ were in danger,” according to Rolling Stone.
The letter said Wood was “a key witness in connection to a criminal investigation in Los Angeles, California involving an international and well-known public figure” and contained a reference to human and sex trafficking crimes.
Trial is still pending for the parts of Marilyn Manson’s suit that weren’t dismissed.
With News Wire Services
