Evan Rachel Wood has responded to Marilyn Manson’s accusations of defamation. Manson brought forward a lawsuit at the beginning of the month after Wood claimed that Manson allegedly groomed and abused her for years.

The actor was briefly engaged to Manson in 2010, and had publicly spoken out about her experiences with domestic abuse, but declined to name her abuser. At the beginning of February, she posted a statement on Instagram naming Manson directly.

“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood wrote. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.”

Wood’s statement resulted in several other women accusing Manson of assault, and he was later investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for these domestic violence claims. In HBO’s new documentary Phoenix Rising, Wood alleged that she was “essentially raped” by Manson during the filming of Manson’s music video for his 2007 single “Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand)”.

Manson’s lawsuit alleged that Wood committed “wrongful and illegal acts done in furtherance of a conspiracy … 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” by coming forward about his alleged abuse.

In response to the defamation lawsuit, Wood spoke publicly on The View, stating that “I can’t obviously speak about any of the specific allegations of the lawsuit, but I’m not scared.”

She continued, “I am very confident that I have the truth on my side and that the truth will come out. This is clearly timed before the documentary…. I’m not doing this to clear my name. I’m doing this to protect people. I’m doing this to sound the alarm that there is a dangerous person out there and I don’t want anybody getting near him. So people can think whatever they want about me. I have to let the legal process run its course, and I’m steady as a rock.”

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat