Evan Rachel Wood’s spokeswoman refuted the allegations, stating the actor “never forced or manipulated” the model, Ashley Morgan Smithline, into making them.
A model who previously accused Marilyn Manson of sexual assault now claims that the allegations were forced upon her by Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood.
Ashley Morgan Smithline stated in a declaration filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday that the allegations were false and that she eventually succumbed to pressure to make the accusations after Wood repeatedly told her that just because she couldn’t remember “did not necessarily mean that it did not happen.” The declaration was filed as part of Manson’s defamation complaint against Wood and Ashley Gore, also known as Illma Gore, by Manson’s attorneys, Brian Hugh Warner.
“While I knew Mr. Warner did not do these things to me at first, I eventually began to doubt whether he actually did,” Smithline stated.
The model said that she was told what happened to them on “many occasions” by Wood and Game of Thrones star Esmé Bianco, who recently resolved a rape complaint against Manson. In 2021, Wood, who had spoken for years about being in an abusive relationship, identified Manson as the former partner on social media, while Smithline and three others also commented about Manson’s claimed sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
Wood, who was engaged to Manson in 2010, claimed on Instagram that the singer began “grooming” her as a youngster and abused her for years.
“I was brainwashed and manipulated,” she wrote.
Smithline stated in her declaration that Wood, Bianco, and others had questioned if the same things had happened to her and advised her that she “may just be misremembering what happened” or “repressing [her] memory of what transpired.”
“Eventually, I came to believe that what had happened to Ms. Wood and Ms. Bianco had also happened to me,” Smithline said.
Smithline also alleged that Gore prepared and posted the statement accusing Manson of abuse on her Instagram after Wood pushed her and others to go public with their allegations, which she did.
Wood’s publicist refuted Smithline’s claims, stating the actor “never pushed or manipulated” the model.
“It was Ashley who initially approached Evan about the assault she had undergone,” the spokesperson told BuzzFeed News in a statement. “It’s regrettable that Ashley appears to have changed her testimony as a result of the abuse and threats she suffered after filing her federal complaint.”
Lawyers for Gore did not immediately reply to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.
In June 2021, Smithline filed a federal lawsuit against Manson, accusing him of sexual assault, sexual battery, deliberate infliction of emotional distress, and wrongful confinement. According to court records, Smithline’s lawsuit was dismissed last month because she failed to provide a notice of new counsel or a status report after her attorney withdrew from the case.
Smithline stated in her declaration that the attorney who filed the complaint on her behalf, Jay Ellwanger, did not go over its contents with her prior to filing and that she did not have an opportunity to approve it in advance.
“The complaint includes inaccurate allegations about Mr. Warner, including that there was violence and non-consensual sexual activity in our brief relationship and that I had repressed those memories until meeting with Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, and others in 2020,” she stated.
Smithline said that Ellwanger, who also represented Bianco in her case against Manson, forced her to go on a press tour prior to filing the complaint. Smithline was dismissed after the complaint was submitted, according to her.
Ellwanger told BuzzFeed News in an email that he was restricted from saying anything owing to attorney-client privilege. The “particular charges touching [his] representation of Ms. Smithline are unequivocally and verifiably incorrect,” he claimed. He also stated that Bianco had no comments.
Police in Los Angeles began investigating Manson’s charges in February 2021, after Wood, Smithline, and the other women made their claims public. More than a dozen women have accused the musician of sexual assault throughout the years.
Last year, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department completed its criminal investigation into Manson and turned it over to the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The district attorney’s office informed BuzzFeed News earlier this month that the case was still being investigated.
Smithline stated in her declaration that she had no intention of refiling her case or seeking criminal charges against Manson, claiming that he “never assaulted or abused [her].”
“Looking back, I believe Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, Ms. Bianco, and Mr. Ellwanger pushed me to propagate publicly false charges of abuse against Mr. Warner,” she added.
