Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco and singer Marilyn Manson (real name Brian Warner) have settled the sexual-assault lawsuit Bianco filed against both Warner and his business, Marilyn Manson Records, Inc., in 2021, according to Rolling Stone. In statements to Rolling Stone, lawyers for both parties said Bianco “agreed to resolve her claims against Brian Warner and Marilyn Manson Records, Inc.,†with Bianco’s lawyer, Jay Ellwanger, adding “in order to move on with her life and career.â€
The suit alleged that in 2009 Warner gave “fraudulent offers of movie and music video roles to convince Ms. Bianco to travel to Los Angeles, whereupon Mr. Warner then made threats of force and performed violent sexual acts on Ms. Bianco to which she did not consent,†according to the New York Times. It originally named Manson’s manager, Tony Ciulla, as well, though his name was later removed from the suit, according to RS. Bianco claimed Warner then convinced her, in 2011, to move to Los Angeles while he helped her “secure a visa and launch her career in the United States.†They then entered a consensual relationship, during which time she endured “constant abuse,†including being raped, “in or around May 2011.†“By inserting himself in Ms. Bianco’s visa process, Mr. Warner was able to control Ms. Bianco by threatening to withdraw support if she displeased him,†the suit alleged.
Bianco’s suit is one of many allegations brought against Warner in recent years. Notably, actress Evan Rachel Wood named Warner as her abuser in 2021 on Instagram in a now-deleted post. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years,†she wrote. “I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent.†Wood later detailed abuse she allegedly endured while in a relationship with Manson in a two-part documentary, Phoenix Rising. Manson has denied Wood’s allegations against him. More than a dozen women have came forward with claims, with several filing lawsuits. Since then, a suit by Warner’s former personal assistant Ashley Walters and a suit by Ashley Morgan Smithline have been dismissed, Walters’s due to the statute of limitations and Smithline’s after she missed a deadline. According to RS, a suit filed by a Jane Doe is still standing.