Court dismisses lawsuit alleging Marilyn Manson 'mentally and sexually' abused ex-GF Ashley Smithline
Warning: The article contains information about sexual and physical assault that may trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A California court dismissed a lawsuit against Marilyn Manson that alleged that the rock star had assaulted his ex-girlfriend "physically, mentally, and sexually". Manson, whose actual name is Brian Hugh Warner, was accused of sexually abusing Ashley Morgan Smithline during the course of their two-year relationship, which started in 2010.
After Smithline fired her attorney and missed the deadline to find legal counsel, her lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice. Smithline was one of 15 women who accused Manson of wrongdoing, along with actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Esme Bianco.
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Smithline claimed in the lawsuit that Manson repeatedly sexually assaulted her. The lawsuit further claimed Manson also cut her with a swastika-emblazoned knife despite the fact that she was of Jewish descent. Moreover, he shoved his fist in her mouth during sex and made her perform a blood pact, the lawsuit claimed. She also claimed that whenever she provoked him, he would lock her in a soundproof room known as "the bad girl's room." However, US District Judge Fernando L Aenlle-Rocha dismissed her case 'without prejudice' as she failed to provide any proper legal representation during her allotted time frame.
Smithline also alleged that one day she woke up one night with her wrists and ankles tied up. She said that Manson was penetrating her despite her pleas for him to stop. She further said the alleged assault caused injuries in her vagina. In another alleged incident, Manson allegedly choked Smithline while forcing her onto a bed. She claimed he had taken out a knife and cut her shoulder and inner arm, as per the court documents read by Radar Online. In an interview with PEOPLE, Ashley accused Manson had carved “MM” on her body with a knife.
Jay Ellwanger, who had previously been representing her, resigned after Smithline apparently sent him a series of strange text messages in which she supposedly stated her desire for another counsel. Manson's attorney Howard King, in an exclusive statement to Daily Mail, said, "We thank and commend Ashley Smithline for dismissing her claims against Brian Warner without seeking or receiving anything in return. We wish her well and will continue to work to assure that a significant price will be paid by those who have tried to abuse our legal system."
After dropping her council, Smithline was ordered to file either a notice for new counsel or a decision to represent herself by December 5. However, she didn't file the response within the mentioned date, as stated by the outlet. "The court, therefore, dismisses this action without prejudice, for Plaintiff’s failure to prosecute the action," the documents read. Manson refuted the claims made by Smithline in his statement to the court in 2022 and charged his ex-girlfriend Wood for starting a smear campaign against him.
He narrated in his court deposition, "I understand that on or around February 1, 2021, Wood posted to Instagram that I was her abuser, and shortly thereafter a number of other women simultaneously emerged with false public accusations against me of abuse, assault, rape, threats, trafficking, and the like. These women include Ashley Morgan Smithline, Ashley Walters, Jane Doe, and Esme Bianco. To the extent I had relationships with these women, those relationships were consensual. I never abused, assaulted, raped, threatened, or trafficked any of these women, as they contend. Their accusations against me of abuse, assault, rape, threats, and the like are unequivocally false."