lawsuits

Esmé Bianco Sues Marilyn Manson for Sexual Assault and Battery

Brian Warner. Photo: Kurt Krieger - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco is suing Marilyn Manson for sexual assault and sexual battery. The complaint, obtained by Vulture on Friday, claims that Manson, real name Brian Warner, also violated human-trafficking laws by bringing Bianco from London to Los Angeles under the pretense that she would be filming a music video for his song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies,” which was never released, and a movie based on the works of Lewis Carroll, Phantasmagoria, which was never made. “Mr. Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011.” Bianco is one of more than a dozen women to come forward with accusations against the musician. In a February interview with the Cut, she described the alleged abuse she faced during their relationship in 2011. The lawsuit, first reported by Rolling Stone, also claims Manson “committed sexual acts” when Bianco was unconscious or unable to consent. “These acts include spanking, biting, cutting, and whipping Ms. Bianco’s buttocks, breasts, and genitals for Mr. Warner’s sexual gratification — all without the consent of Plaintiff.”

Bianco came forward earlier this year along with actress Evan Rachel Wood, who also accused Manson of abuse. “As millions of survivors like myself are painfully aware, our legal system is far from perfect,” Bianco said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “This is why I co-created the Phoenix Act, a law which gives precious additional healing time to thousands of domestic-violence survivors. But while I fight for a more just legal system, I am also pursuing my right to demand my abuser be held to account, using every avenue available to me.”

Update, July 28: Manson’s attorneys filed documents today claiming that Bianco is part of a conspiracy “cynically and dishonestly seeking to monetize and exploit the Me Too movement,” according to Billboard. The document alleges that Bianco’s claims are “provably false,” and that she and other accusers have plotted their testimony with the intention of conflating the “imagery and artistry” of Manson’s stage persona with the private actions of Brian Warner.

Update, July 29: Tony Ciulla of Ciulla Management, who formerly represented Manson, was removed as a defendant in the case in an amendment filed July 9, per documents seen by Vulture. The above article has been updated to reflect this.

Esmé Bianco Sues Marilyn Manson for Sexual Assault, Battery