Shock rock icon Marilyn Manson, real name Brian Warner, has had his share of legal troubles in recent years. Earlier this month, he received community service and a fine after pleading no contest to an assault charge. Additionally, Manson faced a pair of recent rape and sexual assault lawsuits. The alleged victim dropped charges in one case and a judge dismissed the other. Earlier this week, the rocker settled yet another rape lawsuit.
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Less than a week from trial, Manson and the woman known as Jane Doe came to a settlement. According to Billboard, Doe’s attorney, Adam Wolf, filed the notice of settlement in Los Angeles court on Wednesday, September 27. He will submit a request to dismiss the case in less than 45 days.
Howard King, Manson’s lawyer, spoke about the settlement in a statement. “Brian is pleased that, just as previous lawsuits were abandoned without payment or settled for pennies on the dollar, this plaintiff has now agreed to drop her suit in exchange for an insurance payment,” he said. That payment represented “a fraction of her demands and far less than the cost to Brian of proceeding to trial.”
However, Jane Doe states that she did not choose to settle because she feared she would lose the suit. Instead, she was concerned about what would happen if she took the case to trial or won. Doe spoke about the settlement with Rolling Stone. “I was fully prepared for trial and never in a million years thought I would ever settle,” she said. However, the suit was already negatively impacting her life. “Over the last two-and-a-half years I have silently endured threats, bullying, harassment, and various forms of intimidation,” she revealed. The bullying and harassment only got worse as the trial grew closer.
Jane Doe went on to say that Manson chose to attend her deposition in which she had to answer “seven hours of aggressive questioning with [Manson] staring at [her] from across the table.” This, she said, “Nearly never happens as it is cruel and that a main reason for it would be to intimidate and inflict emotional distress on a victim.”
Jane Doe went on to explain that if she took her case to trial she would forfeit her anonymity. This, she feared, would make the harassment, bullying, and intimidation she already faced to a more extreme and public level. Furthermore, she feared losing the right to tell her story. That right, she says is, “worth more than anything in the world.”
As for the pennies-on-the-dollar settlement, Doe stated, “I never cared about money and only ever wanted justice.”
Photo by Frazer Harrison /2020 Getty Images
