{"id":2446844,"date":"2026-06-05T19:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2446844"},"modified":"2026-06-05T19:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:42:02","slug":"marilyn-manson-loses-bid-to-toss-ex-assistants-sex-assault-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/marilyn-manson-loses-bid-to-toss-ex-assistants-sex-assault-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Marilyn Manson Loses Bid to Toss Ex-Assistant\u2019s Sex Assault Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tMarilyn Manson<\/a> lost his latest bid Friday to shut down a sexual assault lawsuit brought by his former assistant.<\/p>\n

\n\tA California judge refused to toss or trim the claims in Ashley Walters\u2019 third amended complaint, five months after he revived the case<\/a> under a new California law that gives older sexual assault claims a two-year lookback window<\/a> to move forward.<\/p>\n

\n\tManson\u2019s lawyer Alexa Foley had argued during the hearing in downtown Los Angeles that Walters\u2019 allegations did not qualify as a revivable under the new law, known as AB250. She tried in vain to convince the court that Walters couldn\u2019t meet the standard of showing she was physically restrained during her alleged sexual assault.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn her third amended complaint, filed in February, Walters alleged that Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner<\/a>, pushed her onto a bed, pinned her arms, and tried to kiss her as she pulled away during an incident at Warner\u2019s West Hollywood home studio in May 2010. She claimed Warner then moved behind her and \u201cbit her ear while grabbing her hand and placing it in his underwear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWalters turned away when he tried to kiss her on the lips,\u201d Foley argued. \u201cShe quickly moved away, so she\u2019s no longer restrained at this point. That\u2019s when they allege that he came up behind her, grabbing her hand, and placing her hand in his underwear. At that point, when there is an alleged intimate touching, there\u2019s no restraint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge wasn\u2019t persuaded, saying it was simply too soon to \u201cbe cutting the line that finely.\u201d Walters\u2019 claims, he said, were strong enough to let the case move forward while both sides gather evidence to show whether the alleged sexual assault qualifies for revival under AB 250.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now, \u201cwhat\u2019s being alleged, as alleged, would ring that bell,\u201d Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Steve Cochran said. \u201cWith allegations like this, you think I\u2019m going to be quibbling with somebody about whether it\u2019s sexual assault or not at the pleading stage? I\u2019d have trouble sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tJudge Cochran said Walters\u2019 related claims of a cover-up by Warner\u2019s company, Marilyn Manson Records, might be more vulnerable to challenge, given that Walters did not agree to work as Warner\u2019s assistant until after the alleged sexual assault. But he said those claims, too, were strong enough to proceed for now. The judge said Warner and his lawyers could challenge the claims again in a motion for summary judgment, after more evidence has been gathered in the case and the new law has been more fully applied.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis was not unexpected,\u201d Warner\u2019s lawyer, Howard King, told Rolling Stone<\/em> outside the courtroom after the ruling. \u201cIt\u2019s a clear invitation for a summary judgment motion. The judge telegraphed explicitly that we\u2019re not at the right stage of the case yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWalters\u2019 lawyers, meanwhile, welcomed the Friday ruling. \u201cWe are obviously pleased,\u201d attorney Bina Ahmad told Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cWe truly take the inspiration to keep fighting from our client. She\u2019s the brave one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe judge ordered the parties back for a case management conference in August.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Cochran revived the lawsuit in January, he said he looked \u201cclosely\u201d at AB250. \u201cI do think the statute revives the claim,\u201d he said as he reversed his Dec. 16 dismissal<\/a> of the long-running case.<\/p>\n

\n\tWalters\u2019 lawsuit has been working its way through the courts for several years. A different judge dismissed it as untimely<\/a> in May 2022, but an appellate panel later revived it<\/a>, giving Walters a chance to prove that trauma-induced memory suppression delayed her filing. When Judge Cochran dismissed the case last year, he found that she failed to make that showing.<\/p>\n

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\n\tWalters first sued Warner in 2021, claiming Warner lured her to his home studio in 2010 after complimenting her photography on social media and floating a possible collaboration. She said Warner asked to photograph her, and she agreed because she \u201cwas not opposed to provocative art in theory.\u201d But the encounter took a turn when Warner became aggressive and assaulted her while she was effectively trapped at his home, she says, because he had failed to warn her the adjacent parking lot would lock in her car from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.<\/p>\n

\n\tWalters said she later took a job as Warner\u2019s assistant after he dangled the possibility of future professional collaboration and made no overt sexual advances during a follow-up meeting. Once she started working for him, however, Warner allegedly unleashed a campaign of physical and emotional abuse, whipping her, hurling plates at her, forcing her to stand on a chair for long stretches and throwing her into a wall during what she described as drug-fueled rages, according to her lawsuit.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn her lawsuit, Walters alleges that beyond her purported direct abuse at the hands of Warner, she also purportedly witnessed the musician throw a prop skull at his former fianc\u00e9e, Evan Rachel Wood<\/a>, \u201cso hard\u201d that it allegedly left \u201ca large, raised welt on her stomach.\u201d She claims she also would sneak food and drinks to Warner\u2019s \u201cstarving and distraught\u201d girlfriends while they hid in a guest bathroom. Warner has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

\n\tWalters first stepped forward<\/a> in February 2021 as multiple women, including Wood, accused Warner of physical and emotional abuse<\/a>. Rolling Stone\u00a0published\u00a0a lengthy investigation<\/a>\u00a0in late 2021 after speaking with more than 55 sources about the allegations.\u00a0Warner, 57, reached out-of-court settlements with two of his accusers, including actress Esm\u00e9 Bianco<\/a>. He previously decided to abandon claims of defamation and harassment filed against Wood<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n