Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence.
Two months after detailing a horrific relationship with Marilyn Manson in a tell-all feature with People magazine, model Ashley Morgan Smithline has filed a lawsuit against the singer. The suit alleges sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment.
Smithline is the fourth woman to sue Manson related to the recent allegations of sexual assault against the shock rocker. Previously, Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco filed a similar lawsuit, as did the singer’s former assistant Ashley Waters and an unidentified woman.
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As reported by Rolling Stone, Smithline’s accusations in the lawsuit are similar to the claims she made in her interview with People. The suit alleges that Manson (real name Brian Warner) lured her to Los Angeles with a promise of casting her in a remake of True Romance alongside Eli Roth. The pair soon started a consensual sexual relationship, with Smithline moving into Manson’s apartment.
However, Smithline claims that the consensual relationship soon turned into sexual assault, with Manson forcibly having sex with her after she “awoke from unconsciousness with her ankles and wrists tied together behind her back.”
According to the suit, “The abuse escalated into Mr. Warner shaking Ms. Smithline and strangling her by putting his hand in her mouth. On yet another occasion, Mr. Warner threw a Nazi knife at Ms. Smithline, only barely missing her face. Mr. Warner also burned Ms. Smithline.” He allegedly also called Smithline a “dirty Jew,” with the suit stating, “Mr. Warner interfered with Ms. Smithline’s civil rights regarding her religion and her right to be free from sexual discrimination and harassment.”
The lawsuit further reads: “Through his physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, Mr. Warner exercised total control over Ms. Smithline, to the point that Ms. Smithline became powerless and brainwashed by Mr. Warner … Ms. Smithline was forced to watch clips of movie scenes depicting gruesome suicides and child pornography. This was so intense it left Ms. Smithline wondering if Mr. Warner wanted her to kill herself. Again, this was intentional conduct motivated by Mr. Warner’s sexual desires.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Manson cut Smithline with a knife, at one point carving his initials “M.M.” into her inner thigh.
Smithline is seeking damages for “sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unlawful imprisonment, violations of the Bane Act, and/or violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, and any other cause(s) of action that can be inferred from the facts set forth herein.”
A representative for Manson responded in a statement to Rolling Stone, “We strongly deny Ms. Smithline’s claims. There are so many falsehoods within her claims that we wouldn’t know where to begin to answer them. This relationship, to the limited extent it was a relationship, lasted less than a week in 2010. Manson hasn’t seen Ms. Smithline since then.”
Multiple women have accused Manson of sexual assault since his former fiancée Evan Rachel Wood went public early this year with her story, claiming, “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”
In another legal matter separate from the accusations of sexual abuse, Manson is expected to turn himself in to Los Angeles police on a New Hampshire warrant for his arrest stemming from an incident in which he allegedly repeatedly spat on a videographer during a concert. Once he surrenders to L.A. police, an arraignment will be set for a court in New Hampshire, likely in August.
