Back in February, more than a dozen women came forward and accused Marilyn Manson of a whole lot of terrible things, including physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse… all the abuses, really. Guy is (allegedly… eye roll) a real piece of shit, and his label, talent agency, and TV shows all dropped him. Evan Rachel Wood was the first to publicly call out Marilyn, and Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco followed suit a couple of weeks later. She gave an in-depth interview to New York magazine and said Marilyn was an abusive monster who left her with physical scars and PTSD. Now Esmé is suing Marilyn and his former manager, Tony Ciulla, for sexual assault, sexual battery, and sex trafficking.
Esmé says Marilyn raped and sexually battered her. She filed the complaint today in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and it marks the first legal action taken against Marilyn since all the allegations surfaced earlier this year. In Esmé’s complaint, she claims Marilyn sexually assaulted and battered her. She also says Marilyn, Tony, and Tony’s management company violated human-trafficking laws when they flew her from London to LA in 2009 under the pretense that she’d be acting in a music video and a film.
Esmé talked about this incident in her New York interview. She arrived ready to film a music video, and “spent the next three days in lingerie, barely sleeping or eating, with Manson serving up cocaine rather than food.” She described how he became violent, tied her with cables, lashed her with a whip, and used an electric sex toy on her wounds to torture her (Evan said this was also used on her). The music video never came out. Later in their relationship, he promised he’d help her with her American visa, so she moved into his house in LA. The lawsuit says (via Rolling Stone):
“He promised work opportunities that never appeared while inserting himself in her visa process,” the complaint says. He continued his fraud, she alleges, when he “[directed] Ms. Bianco to draft paperwork to confirm that she would star in his upcoming film.” Furthermore, the filing adds, “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.” At one point, she claims, he prevented her from escaping by locking her in a bedroom.
Esmé also says Marilyn forced her to perform “unpaid labor”, which violates U.S. human trafficking laws. This included serving and preparing food, cleaning, proving uncredited backup vocals for his music, and… ugh… “being offered up to his guests and bandmates to ‘spank,’”:
“Mr. Warner implied that because he had brought Ms. Bianco to the United States and provided housing, she owed him labor and sexual intimacy.”
The lawsuit also says that Marilyn allegedly raped Esmé in 2011:
“Mr. Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011.” It goes on to claim that Warner “committed sexual acts” with Bianco at times when she was unconscious or unable to consent, and lists the ways she claims he sexually battered her: “These acts include spanking, biting, cutting, and whipping Ms. Bianco’s buttocks, breasts, and genitals for Mr. Warner’s sexual gratification — all without the consent of Plaintiff.”
There are many more allegations, including how Marilyn chased her around with an ax, cut her body during sex with a Nazi knife, wouldn’t let her leave his house, etc. And this was only after living with him for two and a half months! She finally escaped when she was sleeping. You can read the whole suit and the terrible details at Rolling Stone.
The suit goes on to detail how ex-manager Tony enabled Marilyn’s abuse, and how he and his management team had “a vested interest in supporting his violent tendencies to encourage the creation of his ‘art’.” Esmé says that makes them complicit.
Esmé gave a statement to Rolling Stone about her lawsuit. She noted her role in the Phoenix Act (also championed by Evan), a California law that gives more rights to domestic abuse survivors:
“As millions of survivors like myself are painfully aware, our legal system is far from perfect,” Bianco says. “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.
“For far too long, my abuser has been left unchecked, enabled by money, fame, and an industry that turned a blind eye,” she adds. “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.”
In addition to her allegations of sexual abuse, she claims Warner controlled her by giving her drugs and depriving her of food and sleep. This was, the suit says, “in order to weaken her physically and mentally and decrease her ability to refuse him.”
Esmé is seeking unspecified damages for the abuse she says she suffered. Rolling Stone reached out to Marilyn Manson and his ex-manager Tony for comment, but they did not reply. But when other accusations came out a couple of months ago, Marilyn denied, denied, denied, so methinks he’ll pull that again.
Whatever happens in the courts, Esmé taking real legal action against Marilyn is an extraordinarily brave move. And even though she played a sex worker who gets tortured and killed on Game of Thrones (yes, she’s aware of the similarities), now she’s serving us badass Mother of Dragons. Burn them all!
Pics: Wenn.com
