Monday, January 30, 2023 – Marilyn Manson is reportedly being sued for allegedly grooming and assaulting an underage girl multiple times in the 1990s.
The singer, 54, is listed as a defendant alongside his former labels Interscope and Nothing Records, with the plaintiff submitting it anonymously, according to a new lawsuit.
It is the first lawsuit against the singer, focusing on a sex crime that took place at the beginning of his career.
The lawsuit includes counts of sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Manson, real name Brian Warner.
It was filed in Nassau County Supreme Court on Long Island, with negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress being levered against the labels.
Court documents claim that Manson invited his alleged victim onto his tour bus in 1995 after a Dallas concert.
She was 16 at the time and was invited with one of the ‘other younger girls’ who had waited for him – with Manson asking their age, school grade and taking down their addresses and phone numbers.
The suit states: ‘While on the tour bus, Defendant Warner performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff, who was a virgin at the time, including but not limited to forced copulation and vaginal penetration.’
It also claims that one of the band members watched as Manson assaulted the victim, adding that she was ‘in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused’.
She claims that Manson then demanded that she ‘get the f***’ off the bus, and threatened to ‘kill her and her family’ if she told anyone.
A crew member reportedly gave her a number for the band and a password so she could meet Manson again, and she started using drugs and alcohol shortly after the assault.
Court documents say that she continued to use substances in the years to come, with Manson calling her and chatting online while asking for explicit photos of her and her friends.
Manson allegedly managed to convince her to travel to a New Orleans concert where he ‘groomed her’ by complimenting her artwork. He is accused of sexually assaulting her again, but after the incident, he was ‘nicer’ to the victim and said he ‘wanted to see her again’.
She remained in contact with Manson and his band while dating Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna who urged her to move to LA.
The victim then attended a Manson concert where a band member encouraged her to attend a show in 1999.
After attending another show in New Orleans, she went on the road with the group, taking drugs and spending time with Manson who would ‘groom, harass, and sexually abuse’ her.
The suit goes on to say that Manson ‘tightened his psychological control’ over the victim – laying the ‘groundwork necessary to intimidate and control her.’
He would reportedly tell her that ‘no one understands her other than him’ with the victim ‘compelled to keep following him’.
By the time she was 19, she had gone on several tours with him, where he forced her to have sex with ‘him and other band members or his assistant at the time.
It says: ‘He controlled what Plaintiff could do, who could touch Plaintiff, and who he wanted Plaintiff to be with sexually, all while providing Plaintiff with drugs.’
The suit also claims that Manson’s labels were ‘well aware of his obsession with sexual violence and childhood sexual assault’.
His victim claims that Interscope and Nothing should have safeguarded her from their client’s alleged behaviour.
She is suing for emotional distress after Manson ‘openly called her racial slurs and called her fat’ in front of other young female fans.
However, at other points, he called her beautiful and saw her almost every day when his fiancée was not in town.
After an incident following the 1999 tour, she refused to accompany in this room because she was scared of him – claiming that he was more abusive following that incident.
Doe’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, said in a statement to Rolling Stone: This suit by this survivor is a giant step in bringing light and heat to an industry that has been hiding perils in plain sight.
‘It’s time to face the music. New laws give survivors the time to take real action for justice and protection.
‘Powerful new laws in New York and California give adult survivors the chance to take legal action against predators and those that protect and profit from them.
‘We are grateful to the survivors and so many others who now align with us to expose the predators and those in the music industry that have … permitted, promoted, and profiteered from his violence against the vulnerable.