Marilyn Manson’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Evan Rachel Wood Mostly Dismissed

The majority of Marilyn Manson’s defamation claims against Evan Rachel Wood have been rejected by a judge in Los Angeles. These claims include that Wood “recruited, coordinated, and pressured” women to make false claims about the musician using a checklist and a script, and that the actor forged an FBI letter. A Los Angeles civil court is currently processing the lawsuit. The judge based his decision on California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which safeguards people’s right to free speech.

Stereogum first reported the news today.

Based on the aforementioned, Judge Teresa Beaudet concluded that the plaintiff had not shown a likelihood of success in his IIED (infliction of emotional distress) claim that Wood had “recruited, coordinated, and pressured multiple women to make false accusations against Warner and to be part of their film project. If the judge does not invalidate the remaining allegations, the case will proceed.

“We are very pleased with the Court’s ruling, which affirms and protects Evan’s exercise of her fundamental First Amendment rights,” Wood’s attorney Michael Kump said in a statement. “As the Court correctly found, Plaintiff failed to show that his claims against her have even minimal merit.”