The actress details graphic sexual abuse claims at the hands of the goth rock singer, while his attorney says he’s the victim of a shakedown attempt.
Game of Thrones star Esmé Bianco has filed a lawsuit against goth rock icon Marilyn Manson alleging a host of physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse across a multiyear relationship.
Bianco claims Manson (real name Brian Warner) “used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions” and “raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011.”
Bianco played Ros on the HBO fantasy series starting in 2011. Her allegations follow Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood and several other women accusing Manson of abuse during their relationships.
“For far too long my abuser has been left unchecked, enabled by money, fame and an industry that turned a blind eye,” Bianco said in a statement. “Despite the numerous brave women who have spoken out against Marilyn Manson, countless survivors remain silenced, and some of their voices will never be heard. My hope is that by raising mine I will help to stop Brian Warner from shattering any more lives and empower other victims to seek their own small measure of justice.”
Manson’s attorney, Howard King, responded to the lawsuit with this statement: “These claims are provably false. To be clear, this suit was only filed after my client refused to be shaken down by Ms. Bianco and her lawyer and give in to their outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred. We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail.”
In the complaint obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the lawsuit alleges Bianco was first introduced to Manson in 2005. After Mason’s divorce from Dita Von Teese in 2007, the complaint claims Manson asked Bianco for nude photographs and dangled a potential film project for the actress. In 2009, Manson allegedly flew Bianco to Los Angeles to film a music video for his song “I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies.” Bianco expected a professional video shoot and learned instead there was no crew and that she was expected to stay in Manson’s home. The suit says she was told to wear lingerie as her costume and wasn’t provided food or allowed to sleep, but was given drugs and alcohol.
“Ms. Bianco was threatened and physically beaten,” the suit alleges. “Mr. Warner repeatedly told Ms. Bianco that he would come to her room and rape her during the night. … He attempted to force her to perform sexual acts on camera with another woman who was present throughout the shoot. Perhaps most horrifyingly, Mr. Warner locked Ms. Bianco in the bedroom, tied her to a prayer kneeler, and beat her with a whip that Mr. Warner said was utilized by the Nazis. He also electrocuted her.”
The suit claims Bianco believed that if she protested it would hurt her career or that Manson would continue to harm her. The “music video” was never released.
In 2009, the complaint says Manson and Bianco began a consensual sexual relationship. Still, the lawsuit maintains, Mason “bruised and bit Ms. Bianco and publicly groped her against her consent” and “attempted to bring a minor back to the hotel with him and Ms. Bianco.”
The two continued a long-distance relationship, and then in 2011 Mason convinced Bianco to move to Los Angeles to live with him. The complaint alleges Manson defrauded Bianco by falsely telling her she would star in his upcoming feature film Phantasmagoria, controlled her movements and who she was allowed to see, and was verbally abusive toward her in front of others. The suit alleges that at one point Mason “cut Ms. Bianco with a Nazi knife during sex, without her consent, and photographed the cuts on her body. He then posted the photos online without her consent.”
The suit maintains that Manson used a combination of abuse and manipulation and empty promises of employment and threats to her career, all resulting in a loss of professional opportunities and long-lasting trauma. Bianco is asking for a trial by jury and unspecified compensatory damages.
Bianco is also suing Mason’s former manager, Tony Ciulla, alleging he violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act when “Manson employed fraud to bring Bianco to the U.S.” and claims he acted as Bianco’s “babysitter” when Manson was not around. The management company responded in a statement: “This attempt to involve Ciulla Management in this action is not only legally meritless but also offensive and absurd. We look forward to formally contesting these completely frivolous allegations.”
“As millions of survivors like myself are painfully aware, our legal system is far from perfect,” Bianco added in a statement. “This is why I co-created the Phoenix Act, a law which gives precious additional healing time to thousands of domestic violence survivors. But while I fight for a more just legal system, I am also pursuing my right to demand my abuser be held to account, using every avenue available to me.”
The Hollywood Reporter previously confirmed that allegations against Manson by five women are being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Manson’s last social media post was on Instagram in February, which stated: “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.”