(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) Ashley Morgan Smithline, A woman who sued Marilyn Manson for sexual assault, recanted her claims against the rock star in open court, according to Breitbart News.
Smithline claims that she was pressured into making claims against Manson by his ex-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, who accused Manson of similar acts to participate in the #Metoo slander festival of 2017, according to Buzzfeed News.
She reported that Wood and Esmé Bianco, who played a prostitute in the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones,” told her about Manson’s sexual assaults on them on “numerous occasions.”
Smithline asserted that Wood, Bianco, and others inquired about whether Manson had done the same things to her. She says that they told her she “may just be misremembering what happened” or “repressing [her] memories of what happened.”
“While at first I knew Mr. Warner [Manson’s real name is Bryan Warner] did not do these things to me, eventually I began to question whether he actually did,” Smithline said.
Smithline claims that this social pressure led to her suit against Manson. The 2021 suit accused Manson of sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unlawful imprisonment.
Smithline claims that her attorney, Jay Ellwanger, did not inform her of the contents of the suit before filing and that she was not given an opportunity to approve of the suit.
Smithline now asserts the suit contained lies.
“The complaint contained untrue statements about Mr. Warner, including that there was violence and non-consensual sexual activity in our brief relationship and that I had repressed memories of the same until meeting with Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, and others in 2020,” she said.
Smithline now says she was manipulated into filing the suit.
“Looking back, I feel I was manipulated by Ms. Wood, Ms. Gore, Ms. Bianco, and Mr. Ellwanger to spread publicly false accusations of abuse against Mr. Warner,” she said.
Smithline now says Manson “did not ever assault or abuse [her].”
