Days after settling out of court with actor Esmé Bianco, Marilyn Manson (born Brian Warner) has once again been sued for allegedly having groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted an underage girl in the 1990s.
This is the first of the many lawsuits against the musician to focus on alleged crimes that took place at the beginning of his career — all accusers' lawsuits up until this point have dated the sexual abuse to around 2010.
The following article contains potentially triggering material relating to sexual assault and violence. If you believe you have experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct and are looking for support, consult the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime to find resources in your area.
The new plaintiff, who filed anonymously as "Jane Doe" in Nassau County Supreme Court in Long Island, NY, says her first encounter with Warner took place in 1995 after a concert in Dallas, TX. Doe, aged 16, had been among a group of people, waiting outside his tour bus to meet him, when he allegedly invited her "and one of the other younger girls" onto the bus. He reportedly asked their age and school grade, taking down their phone numbers and home addresses.
"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," the lawsuit reads. The age of consent in Texas remains 17.
The document continued, "One of the band members watched Defendant Warner sexually assault Plaintiff. Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her. … Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to 'get the fuck off of my bus' and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family."
The plaintiff claims that a crew member gave her a 1-800 number to reach the band, as well as a password so she could meet with Warner again. Doe alleges that Warner would call her and chat with her online, requesting explicit photos of her and her friends.
Warner allegedly proceeded to convince Doe to travel to a New Orleans concert later that same year, when she was still 16. (The age of consent in Louisiana was and continues to be 17.) According to the suit, the musician "groomed" her by complimenting her artwork when they met there. "Defendant Warner then became more aggressive and again sexually assaulted Plaintiff, including kissing, biting her breast, oral copulation, and penetration," it reads. "After the second assault, Defendant Warner acted in a kinder manner nicer to Plaintiff and told her that he wanted to see her again."
However, Doe continued to contact Warner and his band. When she was 18, she began dating then-Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna, who allegedly urged the plaintiff to move to Los Angeles. While there, she attended a Marilyn Manson concert, where she was reportedly encouraged to attend a 1999 concert in Dallas by a member of the band. She also went to the following show in New Orleans, where a crew member helped her get backstage and allegedly promised to keep giving her backstage passes.
The plaintiff claims she spent the next four weeks on the road with the Warner and the band, taking drugs and spending hours with the accused, in which he'd "groom, harass, and sexually abuse" her. It was during this period that the lawsuit claims the musician began to tighten his psychological control over Doe, allegedly exploiting her vulnerability when she revealed that she was considering leaving the tour to return home. "Defendant Warner often made Plaintiff feel alone and isolated by telling her that no one understands her other than him, which included her family," the document reads.
It continues, "Defendant Warner often coerced Plaintiff to have sex with him and other band members or his assistant at the same time. Defendant Warner controlled what Plaintiff could do, who could touch Plaintiff, and who he wanted Plaintiff to be with sexually, all while providing Plaintiff with drugs." Doe is also suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming that Warner also displayed "hostile and verbally abusive behaviour," which allegedly included using racial slurs and calling her fat.
Warner's record labels are also named in the lawsuit, with the plaintiff claiming they "were well-aware of Defendant Warner's obsession with sexual violence and childhood sexual assault." Marilyn Manson was the first signing to Nine Inch Nails bandleader Trent Reznor's Nothing Records imprint, a subsidiary of Interscope. The document claims the labels should have safeguarded Doe from Warner's alleged abuse, citing the lack of "a reasonable system or procedure in place to investigate, supervise, or monitor its staff and/or agents, including Defendant Warner, to prevent pre-sexual grooming and sexual harassment, molestation, and assault of fans, including minors and women."
Back in 2021, Reznor addressed a resurfaced passage from Warner's 1998 autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, wherein the accused claims he and Reznor allegedly physically and sexually assaulted a woman in the 1990s. "I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago," the NIN bandleader said at the time. "As I said at the time, the passage from Manson's memoir is a complete fabrication. I was infuriated and offended back when it came out and remain so today."
Doe's attorney, Jeff Anderson, told 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."
See the full lawsuit below.
This is the first of the many lawsuits against the musician to focus on alleged crimes that took place at the beginning of his career — all accusers' lawsuits up until this point have dated the sexual abuse to around 2010.
The following article contains potentially triggering material relating to sexual assault and violence. If you believe you have experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct and are looking for support, consult the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime to find resources in your area.
The new plaintiff, who filed anonymously as "Jane Doe" in Nassau County Supreme Court in Long Island, NY, says her first encounter with Warner took place in 1995 after a concert in Dallas, TX. Doe, aged 16, had been among a group of people, waiting outside his tour bus to meet him, when he allegedly invited her "and one of the other younger girls" onto the bus. He reportedly asked their age and school grade, taking down their phone numbers and home addresses.
"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," the lawsuit reads. The age of consent in Texas remains 17.
The document continued, "One of the band members watched Defendant Warner sexually assault Plaintiff. Plaintiff was in pain, scared, upset, humiliated and confused. After he was done, Defendant Warner laughed at her. … Then Defendant Warner demanded Plaintiff to 'get the fuck off of my bus' and threatened Plaintiff that, if she told anyone, he would kill her and her family."
The plaintiff claims that a crew member gave her a 1-800 number to reach the band, as well as a password so she could meet with Warner again. Doe alleges that Warner would call her and chat with her online, requesting explicit photos of her and her friends.
Warner allegedly proceeded to convince Doe to travel to a New Orleans concert later that same year, when she was still 16. (The age of consent in Louisiana was and continues to be 17.) According to the suit, the musician "groomed" her by complimenting her artwork when they met there. "Defendant Warner then became more aggressive and again sexually assaulted Plaintiff, including kissing, biting her breast, oral copulation, and penetration," it reads. "After the second assault, Defendant Warner acted in a kinder manner nicer to Plaintiff and told her that he wanted to see her again."
However, Doe continued to contact Warner and his band. When she was 18, she began dating then-Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna, who allegedly urged the plaintiff to move to Los Angeles. While there, she attended a Marilyn Manson concert, where she was reportedly encouraged to attend a 1999 concert in Dallas by a member of the band. She also went to the following show in New Orleans, where a crew member helped her get backstage and allegedly promised to keep giving her backstage passes.
The plaintiff claims she spent the next four weeks on the road with the Warner and the band, taking drugs and spending hours with the accused, in which he'd "groom, harass, and sexually abuse" her. It was during this period that the lawsuit claims the musician began to tighten his psychological control over Doe, allegedly exploiting her vulnerability when she revealed that she was considering leaving the tour to return home. "Defendant Warner often made Plaintiff feel alone and isolated by telling her that no one understands her other than him, which included her family," the document reads.
It continues, "Defendant Warner often coerced Plaintiff to have sex with him and other band members or his assistant at the same time. Defendant Warner controlled what Plaintiff could do, who could touch Plaintiff, and who he wanted Plaintiff to be with sexually, all while providing Plaintiff with drugs." Doe is also suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming that Warner also displayed "hostile and verbally abusive behaviour," which allegedly included using racial slurs and calling her fat.
Warner's record labels are also named in the lawsuit, with the plaintiff claiming they "were well-aware of Defendant Warner's obsession with sexual violence and childhood sexual assault." Marilyn Manson was the first signing to Nine Inch Nails bandleader Trent Reznor's Nothing Records imprint, a subsidiary of Interscope. The document claims the labels should have safeguarded Doe from Warner's alleged abuse, citing the lack of "a reasonable system or procedure in place to investigate, supervise, or monitor its staff and/or agents, including Defendant Warner, to prevent pre-sexual grooming and sexual harassment, molestation, and assault of fans, including minors and women."
Back in 2021, Reznor addressed a resurfaced passage from Warner's 1998 autobiography The Long Hard Road Out of Hell, wherein the accused claims he and Reznor allegedly physically and sexually assaulted a woman in the 1990s. "I have been vocal over the years about my dislike of Manson as a person and cut ties with him nearly 25 years ago," the NIN bandleader said at the time. "As I said at the time, the passage from Manson's memoir is a complete fabrication. I was infuriated and offended back when it came out and remain so today."
Doe's attorney, Jeff Anderson, told 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."
See the full lawsuit below.