Marilyn Manson’s Former Accuser’s Recantation Can’t Be Evidence In Evan Rachel Woods Case, Judge Rules

In Evan Rachel Woods and Illma Gore’s defamation case last week, Ashley Morgan Smithline, former accuser of Marilyn Manson, has recanted her assault allegations against Manson (aka Brian Warner) after his team filed a declaration statement from Smithline. In the declaration, she claimed that she was “manipulated” by Wood and Illma Gore to make false accusations. Pitchfork has confirmed that a judge denied Manson’s application to include Smithline’s declaration as evidence.

Wood filed a declaration herself in court on Monday, in which she expressed “I never pressured or manipulated Ashley Morgan Smithline to make any accusations against Plaintiff Brian Warner, and I certainly never pressured or manipulated her to make accusations that were not true. It was Ms. Smithline who first contacted me in March 2019.”

According to Rolling Stone, a new court filing from Wood includes screenshots of Instagram comments from Smithline dating back to 2019, along with reported text messages, DMs, and voicemails from Smithline from the last three years. A voicemail was played from June 2022, with Smithline saying “Don’t repeat this to anyone. I swear to God, don’t say this to anyone … but I did get a private message on my cellular telephone from Marilyn Manson’s lawyer saying, ‘I was wondering if we could just talk,’” Smithline said in the voicemail. “The only reason he’d be calling me… is that he thinks I’m the weak link and he might want to settle with me to turn on the other girls and say that it was all a ruse.”

Wood’s attorneys also argued that “Smithline’s timeline is disproven  by documented evidence,” that she “faced pressure and harassment after filing her federal lawsuit, including from plaintiff’s attorneys.” It was also noted that the document was electronically “DocuSigned,” and that “Smithline does not demonstrate outrageous conduct by defendants.”

After the ruling, Smithline told Rolling Stone that “Evan’s full of shit. That’s my comment… She’s saying anything she can to discredit me.”

A new hearing was held today.

Photo Credit: Owen Ela