Marilyn Manson Accuser Takes Back Previous Sexual Abuse Allegations, Claims Evan Rachel Wood Manipulated Her

Marilyn Manson did not sexually abuse Ashley Morgan Smithline, the latter said after rescinding her sworn statement.

A month after Smithline's lawsuit against Manson, real name Brian Hugh Warner, was dismissed, she filed a statement rescinding her allegations of sexual abuse against the rocker. She claimed she was "manipulated" into accusing the American rock musician of psychological, sexual and physical abuse and called the accusations "false."

"I succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of rape and assault against [Manson] that were not true," she wrote in a declaration filed in Los Angeles Superior Court obtained by People.

The outlet corroborated the story with multiple sources telling its May 17, 2021 cover story. However, Smithline said she was "pressured" by her attorney to speak about her accusations in a press tour.

She added that Wood and others, including Ashley Walters, a former assistant of Manson's who sued him for sexual assault and battery in 2021, Wood's girlfriend Illma Gore and "Games of Thrones" star Esmé Bianco gaslit her to believe she had been abused in similar ways they claimed they had been.

Bianco filed a lawsuit against Manson in 2021 and settled it in January.

Smithline admitted to having a "brief, consensual sexual relationship" with Manson in 2010. She was contacted a decade later by either Walters or Gore to join a meeting of women who claimed to have had "relationship experiences" with the 54-year-old musician.

"I remember [Wood] asked me whether I had been, among other things, whipped, chained, tied up, branded/cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or raped. She said all of these things happened to Ms. Wood and others, and that when Ms. Wood was with [Manson] every moment was a moment of survival," Smithline wrote.

"When I said no this did not happen to me, and this was not my experience, I recall being told by Ms. Wood that just because I could not remember did not necessarily mean that it did not happen."

Smithline added that over their conversations with the "Westworld" actress, she began to question her time with Manson and whether or not he abused her. Wood and the others suggested she "may just be misremembering" and "repressing" her memories.

"Eventually, I started to believe that what I was repeatedly told happened to Ms. Wood and Ms. Bianco happened to me," Smithline added.

Wood denied Smithline's allegations that they pressured her.

"Evan never pressured or manipulated Ashley. It was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered," Wood's rep said in a statement to People. "It's unfortunate that the harassment and threats Ashley received after filing her federal lawsuit appear to have pressured her to change her testimony."

Manson's attorney, Howard King, said Smithline contacted him and his team of her own volition last week and apologized to the singer. The lawyer told Page Six that Smithline was a "reluctant participant" in Wood's alleged scheme against Manson and never had any financial motivation.

"I never received any money from Mr. Warner and am not seeking any money from him," Smithline also said in her declaration. "I have no intention of refiling any lawsuit against Mr. Warner."

When King was asked if the settlement was their way to compensate an alleged victim to "quietly go away," the lawyer said only Bianco received payment, and she received a "fraction" of what she asked for.

"It was paid for primarily by an insurance company," the top Hollywood attorney said. "Had we known that Smithline was going to come forward with this type of information, Brian would not have paid a cent even if it was insurance company money. We were facing months and months of legal fees, the insurance money was running out and the insurance company offered to pay a significant portion of the settlement."