The ruling by the court in California came after the plaintiff, model and entertainer Ashley Morgan Smithline, was reported to have missed a key deadline in the trial.
The court had previously allowed Smithline’s previous lawyer, Jay Ellwanger, to withdraw from the case, before giving the plaintiff two months to hire a new lawyer or file a report she would represent herself, neither of which took place.
Following the latest verdict in the trial, however, Smithline is allowed to refile the case with new representation.
Smithline claims the rock musician, born Brian Warner, abused her on numerous occasions between 2010 and 2013 – allegations which Warner denies.
As reported by Los Angeles Times and, the extent of Smithline’s claims include sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unlawful imprisonment, and more.
Howard King, Warner’s laywer, said in a statement to Pitchfork: “We thank and commend Ashley Smithline for dismissing her claims against Brian Warner without seeking or receiving anything in return.
“We wish her well and will continue to work to assure that a significant price will be paid by those who have tried to abuse our legal system.”
Warner’s legal troubles on the issue of sexual offences are not over, however. He’s currently facing a federal lawsuit from Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco; a lawsuit which claims Manson “used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions. [Manson] raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011”, the court lawsuit claimed, along with further acts that occurred “without the consent of Plaintiff.
Manson has since rejected these claims as “untrue, meritless” and part of a “coordinated attack by multiple plaintiffs”.
Warner is also currently suing his ex-girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood for defamation, after she publicly named him as his accuser both in a Rolling Stone investigation in late 2021 and in a documentary, Phoenix Rising, released in March the following year. Both detailed Wood’s experiences with Warner; she has accused Warner of years of sexual abuse, coercive control and even imprisonment, among other harrowing accounts.
