Who Is Marilyn Manson's Ex, Ashley Morgan Smithline?
Ashley Morgan Smithline has recently shared a statement calling her sexual assault allegations against Marilyn Manson "false."
In a 2021 interview with People, the model detailed her allegations against Manson, claiming he sexually assaulted her, cut her and locked her in a glass, soundproofed room.
The case was dismissed by a court in California earlier this year. It comes after Smithline’s lawyer withdrew acting as her representation in October 2022, and she didn't meet a deadline of December to acquire new representation or represent herself.
“I succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of r**e and assault against [Manson] that were not true,” she wrote in the declaration.
Smithline was the fourth woman to file a suit against Marilyn Manson, and at least 15 other women have accused him of sexual assault. The singer has denied all allegations, which he has called "horrible distortions of reality."
So, who is Ashley Morgan Smithline, and why has she now hit headlines?
9 How Did Ashley Morgan Smithline Gain Fame?
Ashley Mogan Smithline first gained public attention in February 2021, when she released an Instagram post about the abuse she faced when dating Marilyn Manson.
She later detailed her experiences to People Magazine in May 2021. She accused the singer of r**e, sexual assault, and coercion. “I have bonded with the five other main girls who went through this, and we have found such a strength in numbers,” she revealed at the time. “And our stories are all fu**ing identical, it’s disgusting.”
She also went on The View in June 2021 to talk about the ordeal and filed a lawsuit against the rock singer.
8 Ashley Morgan Smithline Dated Marilyn Manson
Ashley Morgan Smithline revealed in her new declaration that she had a "brief, consensual sexual relationship" with Marilyn Manson in 2010.
She says the first time she attempted to leave Manson was after he berated her for becoming drowsy at 3 a.m. during a video shoot, about a year after they first started seeing each other. The model explained that she felt unable to leave her abuser.
"I want to think that I never went back again," she told People previously. "I wanted to go back on my terms and be in control, but it doesn't ever work like that."
She admitted that although she moved out from his house, she continued to see the singer during his tour breaks. She claimed they officially called it quits in January 2013.
7 What Did Ashley Morgan Smithline Claim Marilyn Manson Did To Her?
Thirty-six-year-old Ashley Smithline, claims that Marilyn Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, flew her out to Los Angeles from Bangkok, Thailand, where she was working as a model for a film project.
"It has been important for me to come forward the way I have because I live in constant fear even to this day," she originally told People "I am seeking justice because I want to move forward and heal from the terrible abuse I faced. I want Brian Warner to be held accountable once and for all."
"Warner... grabbed a knife next to the bed and began cutting Ms. Smithline's shoulder, inner arm, and stomach," her report originally alleged. "The cuts drew blood and caused Ms. Smithline to go into shock. To this day, Ms. Smithline bears the scars of Mr. Warner's cuts."
The lawsuit featured multiple accounts of r**e, sexual abuse, cutting, whipping, a nose fracture and being "branded" by the singer after he carved his initials into her leg. "There was no branding or cutting experienced during the brief relationship and certainly no 'Marilyn Manson' initials carved on my body," she has now said.
6 Allegations Of Marilyn Manson's Antisemitic Abuse
Ashley Morgan Smithline revealed in the original documents that she was bitten, whipped and cut with a swastika-emblazoned knife over the course of her two-year relationship with Marilyn Manson. She also said that she was forced to do a blood pact and claimed that he forced her into a soundproof glassbox whenever she "p*****him off."
"He cut me on my stomach and then drank my blood. Then, he had me drink his," she says. "The more I let him hurt me, the more I loved him and the more I was proving myself to him."
5 Ashley Morgan Smithline Claims She Attended Group Meetings With Other Marilyn Manson Victims
The model has revealed in her declaration that either Evan Rachel Wood's girlfriend, Illma Gore, or Marilyn Manson’s former assistant who also previously sued him, contacted her in 2020.
Ashley Morgan Smithline claims that the women asked her to participate in group meetings with others who claimed to be “victims” of Manson.
Smithline claims she was asked in the meetings whether she had been “whipped, chained, tied up, branded, cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or r**ed” by Manson, and she claims she responded with, “No, this did not happen to me, and this was not my experience.”
"It was like looking at a room full of myself," Smithline originally said about the meeting, "All of the abuse, the gaslighting, he just has a very specific pattern."
4 Evan Rachel Wood 'Believed' Ashley Smithline Had 'Repressed' Memories About Marilyn Manson Abuse
Ashley Morgan Smithline claims Evan Rachel Wood told her that “just because she could not remember” those things “did not necessarily mean that it did not happen,” alleging it was possible she had “repressed” memories due to her alleged trauma.
“While at first I knew Mr. Warner did not do these things to me, I eventually I began to question whether he actually did,” Smithline says.
“I was asked whether [I] was repressing memories to just get through day-to-day life, and whether it was easier just to not think about what actually happened than accept reality. They also said it was important for people to come forward so that no one else gets hurt.”
3 Did Ashley Morgan Smithline Apologize To Marilyn Manson?
Marilyn Manson’s attorney, Howard King, told Page Six that Ashley Morgan contacted him and apologized to the singer.
“She was a reluctant participant [in Wood’s alleged scheme] from the get-go,” the lawyer revealed. Manson's team notes that Smithline did it of her own volition and told the singer that she never had any financial motivation for allegedly “lying”.
2 Ashley Morgan Smithline Felt 'Pressure' From Evan Rachel Wood
The LA-based model claims she "succumbed to pressure from Evan Rachel Wood and her associates to make accusations of r**e and assault."
Ashley Smithline also said she felt "pressured" by her attorney to speak about her accusations in a press tour. The model claims she was "repeatedly gaslit" by Wood and others, including Ashley Walters, a former assistant of Marilyn Manson's who sued him for sexual assault and battery in 2021, Wood's girlfriend Illma Gore and Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco.
1 Evan Rachel Wood Denies Allegations Of Pressuring Ashley Morgan Smithline
Evan Rachel Wood, who has starred in Thirteen and recently played Madonna in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, denies any of this.
"Evan never pressured or manipulated Ashley. It was Ashley who first contacted Evan about the abuse she had suffered," the statement in response read. "It's unfortunate that the harassment and threats Ashley received after filing her federal lawsuit appear to have pressured her to change her testimony."
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