Marilyn Manson has filed a defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles County court against Evan Rachel Wood, Deadline reports and documents reviewed by The FADER confirm.
Wood and four other women accused Manson of sexual abuse last February, and Wood has reasserted her claims in the documentary Phoenix Rising, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
Illma Gore — described in the suit as Wood's "on-again, off-again romantic partner” — is also named as a defendant in Manson's suit.
The complaint, filed by Manson's attorney Howard E. King, claims Wood and Gore conspired "to publicly cast Plaintiff Brian Warner, p/k/a Marilyn Manson, as a rapist and abuser — a malicious falsehood that has derailed Warner’s successful music, TV, and film career.” Read Next: Report: Marilyn Manson is working on Kanye West’s Donda 2 “every day” Among the list of "wrongful and illegal acts" Manson alleges that Wood and Gore engaged in, he says they “secretly recruited, coordinated, and pressured prospective accusers to emerge simultaneously with allegations of rape and abuse against Warner," providing scripts to the accusers and coaching them on how to present their allegations.
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