CW: This article contains details of sexual assault that some may find disturbing or triggering.
Several women emerged with horrendous allegations against Marilyn Manson over the years, accusing him of sexual abuse. 38-year-old Ashley Morgan Smithline claimed that she endured years of abuse during her relationship with Marilyn Manson. Her allegations emerged at a time when a number of women, including Manson’s ex Evan Rachel Woods, shared similar stories. Smithline filed a lawsuit, which was later dismissed, where she detailed her relationship with the singer.
Smithline, who is Jewish, alleged Manson raped her and cut her with a knife that had a Swastika symbol. Along with the numerous other allegations against Manson, he ultimately became a pariah in the music industry. However, it appears that Smithline’s claims weren’t true, to begin with. She recently retracted her comments, accusing Wood and her associates of manipulating her into suing the rockstar.
Smithline Retracts Statements Against Marilyn Manson
In a recent declaration obtained by PageSix, Smithline said that the allegations she made against Manson were “not true.” She said that other alleged victims of Manson invited her to group meetings where they asked if she had been “whipped, chained, tied up, branded, cut, assaulted while sleeping, beaten, or raped” by the singer. “No, this did not happen to me, and this was not my experience,” she reportedly responded.
However, the other women in these meetings, including Wood, suggested that she may have been suppressing the 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 said. “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.”
She said Wood’s girlfriend, Illma Gore, drafted the statement she shared on Instagram where she named Manson as her abuser. In her declaration, she said that her statement “contained untrue statements about Mr. Warner” including violence and sexual assault claims. Though many were weary of the retraction, she said, “I never received any money from Mr. Warner and am not seeking any money from him.” She added that she won’t refile her lawsuit, either.