Content Warning: This article about Marilyn Manson discusses sexual abuse and domestic violence. If you or someone you know is affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

Disgraced shock rocker Marilyn Manson is facing a lawsuit from his former assistant Ashley Walters. As SPIN report, Walters filed a complaint on Tuesday, May 12th with the Superior Court of Los Angeles Country alleging Manson of sexual assault, battery and harassment.

The lawsuit details multiple incidents of alleged abuse, stemming back to 2010 when the pair first met. Walters details that she came to contact Marilyn Manson as an aspiring photographer on MySpace. The pair went on to meet in person at Manson’s home in West Hollywood in May 2010 to discuss a potential creative partnership.

Walters alleges that when she attempted to leave his home at 2 am, Manson said that the park where she left her car did not open until 7 am. The pair then allegedly engaged in a photoshoot where Walters removed her shirt.

The suit details that after Manson finished taking photographs of Walters, he “pushed her onto his bed and pinned down her arms. Walters turned her head away as Defendant tried to kiss her on the lips.” After Walters “quickly” moved away, the suit alleges that Manson “moved behind Walters and bit her ear while grabbing her hand and placing it in his underwear.”

Following the alleged incidents, Walters was employed by Manson as his assistant. Manson reportedly offered double the salary Walters was making as an office coordinator at a production company. “She knew it could be an incredible opportunity to become involved in the creative entertainment field,” the complaint reads, “one that would not be likely to come around again.” She said “yes.”

The suit went on to detail the abnormal conditions Walters worked under. Manson allegedly kept a nocturnal schedule, with blackout curtains drawn in his house. Walters claims the singer would stay up for days, fuelled by coke binges, and Walters was expected to work 48 hours straight.

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“During these drug binges, he threw dishes at Walters, threatened to commit suicide and even pushed her into a wall,” the lawsuit reads.

He also allegedly “commonly offered Walters up to his influential industry friends and associates”, the suit cites two alleged incidents One that took place at an awards show in September 2010 in which Manson allegedly “pushed Walters onto the lap of an actor and bragged that he could ‘have her.” “The actor proceeded to kiss Walters and keep her on his lap.”

The next month, the complaint says Manson introduced her to a director who “groped Walters repeatedly throughout the night” at one point, shoving his hand up her skirt whilst covering her mouth.

“It made me feel like I was his property,” Walters told The Cut. “It just made me feel like a piece of meat.”

Walters, 37, is one of over a dozen women who have alleged abuse at the hands of Manson. The reckoning of Manson’s behaviour unraveled following a statement from actress Evan Rachel Wood who took to Instagram to allege that for years, Marilyn Manson groomed and “horrifically abused” her.

“The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson,” Wood wrote on February 1st. “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. 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’s testimony prompted a number of women to come forward, detailing harrowing accounts of alleged abuse they’ve suffered. Last month, Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco filed a lawsuit against the actor, claiming that she was sexually assaulted, whipped, and electrocuted over the course of her two-year-long relationship with the singer.

Manson has vehemently denied all allegations. “Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
“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.”

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