Marilyn Manson sued by Game of Thrones star Esme Bianco over ‘abuse’ claims
Rocker Marilyn Manson has been sued for “sexual assault and sex trafficking” by a Game of Thrones actor following alleged abuse claims.
Marilyn Manson has been sued for “sexual assault and sex trafficking” by Game of Thrones star Esme Bianco over “abuse” claims.
Bianco was one of the many women, including actor Evan Rachel Wood, who spoke out against the musician earlier this year. Manson has denied allegations made against him.
In a new development following the February scandal, the 38-year-old actor filed a lawsuit on Friday in the United States District Court for the Central District of California where she claimed that the singer – whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner – raped and sexually battered her, Rolling Stone revealed.
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“Mr Warner used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms Bianco on multiple occasions,” the lawsuit read, according to the outlet.
“Mr Warner raped Ms Bianco in or around May 2011.”
It further claimed that Marilyn “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.”
Manson’s longtime manager Tony Ciulla cut ties with the singer after 25 years following the accusations made against him in February.
According to the lawsuit, Manson engaged in human trafficking when he “employed fraud” in bringing Bianco to the United States to appear in a music video for his song I Want to Kill You Like They Do in the Movies and a never-made horror film based on the works of Lewis Carroll called Phantasmagoria.
“He promised work opportunities that never appeared while inserting himself in her visa process,” the complaint read.
She alleged that he “(directed) Ms Bianco to draft paperwork to confirm that she would star in his upcoming film.”
The filing added: “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.”
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She claimed that, during an incident, he prevented her from leaving by locking her in a bedroom.
Bianco also alleged he forced her to perform “unpaid labor.”
The lawsuit claimed: “This included serving and preparing food for Mr Warner and his guests, cleaning his apartment, consulting on his album, providing uncredited backup vocals during the creative process for the album Born Villain, and 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.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Bianco said: “As millions of survivors like myself are painfully aware, our legal system is far from perfect.
“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 added: “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.”
She further claimed that Manson gave her drugs and deprived her of food and sleep.
According to the lawsuit, this was “in order to weaken her physically and mentally and decrease her ability to refuse him.”
The actor is seeking unspecified damages for the abuse she claimed she suffered.
Bianco claimed that Tony Ciulla and his Ciulla Management company were also responsible because they benefited financially from “allowing this abuse to continue.”
She also claimed that Ciulla Management was aware of the way the singer’s assistant would serve as a “babysitter” when the singer wasn’t around.
The suit claimed that “Mr Warner’s former assistants discussed Mr Warner’s abuse directly with Mr Ciulla.
“Mr Warner’s management had a vested interest in supporting his violent tendencies to encourage the creation of his ‘art’ and the promotion of the brand of Marilyn Manson, and were complicit in Mr Warner’s abuse of Ms Bianco.”
As for how their history began, Bianco claimed in the lawsuit that she had been fooled into thinking that she was there for a music video after Manson and Dita Von Teese divorced in 2007.
“Upon arrival, Ms Bianco found that there was no crew present and that she was expected to stay at Mr Warner’s home rather than in the hotel that had been previously booked,” the lawsuit claimed.
It further claimed she has not given her food for the four-day shoot and instead was paid with alcohol and drugs. The singer would allegedly make her wear lingerie the entire time, and not allow her to sleep and to be on call 24 hours a day.
During the shoot, Bianco claimed Manson acted erratically, breaking his camera at one point in a fit of anger.
She claimed he made her watch a movie so violent that she fainted and that he tried to force her to perform sexual acts with another woman on camera.
“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,” the lawsuit claimed. “He also electrocuted her.”
Then, in May 2009, Manson allegedly flew to London and he and Bianco began a consensual sexual relationship.
However, he would allegedly grope her in public without her consent and made her follow a dress code.
“(He) forced her to sit at his feet during press visits,” the filing claimed. “He verbally degraded her during interviews. He also attempted to bring a minor back to the hotel with him and Ms Bianco.”
They kept up a long-distance relationship until April 2011, when he asked Bianco to move to Los Angeles and said he would secure her a visa, according to the filing.
She lived with him for just two and a half months after moving in together.
It was then, she claimed, that he threatened her visa status, kept her prisoner in his apartment, and locked her in a closet.
“On one occasion, Mr Warner chased Plaintiff around the apartment with an ax, smashing holes in the walls,” the lawsuit claimed.
“On another occasion, Mr Warner 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. Mr Warner’s friends, bandmates, assistant, producer, and other colleagues witnessed various aspects of this abuse — including (his former manager) Mr Ciulla.”
She escaped one day in June 2011, the lawsuit claimed, when Marilyn was sleeping.
After she left, she claimed he threatened her visa again.
They saw each other again two years later after one of Manson’s concerts. She met him on his bus afterwards where he “forcibly kissed her without her consent and attempted to block her from leaving,” the filing claimed.
“I am inspired by Ms Bianco’s courage and dedication to holding Brian Warner accountable,” Bianco’s lawyer, Jay Ellwanger, told Rolling Stone.
“While we understand that the criminal investigations are still ongoing, it is vital that we pursue every possible avenue to hold him accountable for the horrific acts he committed.”
Back in February, Bianco spoke out for the first time against Manson, whom she branded as a “monster.”
Bianco, who starred as Ros in the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, began dating Manson in 2011, several years after they first met, she claims in a story published in New York Magazine.
Her accusations come after at least five women including Hollywood star Evan Rachel Wood, 33, publicly accused the rocker, 52, of abuse.
Wood — who worked with Bianco in 2019 to reform domestic-violence laws in California — alleged Manson “horrifically abused me for years”.
Wood, who stars in HBO show Westworld, said: “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson.
“He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”
Manson has refuted the allegations insisting all his romantic relationships have been “entirely consensual.”
In a statement posted on Instagram, he said: “Obviously, my life and my art 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.”
Since then, police were investigating him for the sex and domestic abuse claims made against him by at least 11 women.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced with permission
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