Evan Rachel Wood “endlessly proud of survivors” after Marilyn Manson skirts charges

Last week, Brian Warner, better known as Marilyn Manson, avoided sexual abuse and domestic violence charges thanks to the statute of limitations and a new D.A. Los Angeles County’s recently elected District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman’s decision not to prosecute Warner comes at the end of a four-year investigation into the allegations of harassment, abuse, and sexual assault brought to the public’s attention by actor and Warner’s former fiancé Evan Rachel Wood, who faced a defamation suit for going public with her accusations against Warner. That suit was ultimately settled with Warner paying Wood and fellow actor and accuser Esmé Bianco’s legal fees, but Warner still won’t face charges for Wood, Bianco or the other survivors’ claims. However, despite the District Attorney’s decision disappointing Warner’s accusers, Wood posted a message of pride. In a private Instagram post published by People, Wood said she was “endlessly proud” of the dozen or so survivors who went public against Warner and expressed dismay toward a legal system that gives violent crimes an “expiration date.”

“My lawyer and I were advised by the Deputy District Attorneys and the Sheriff deputies who investigated the case that there was compelling evidence to support our claims, but that the statute of limitations prevents many of those crimes from being prosecuted,” Wood wrote. “We always knew that the statute of limitations would be a barrier, which is why we created the Phoenix Act so that other victims wouldn’t have to experience this outcome.” Ironically, despite the Phoenix Act, a 2020 bill that passed unanimously in the California State Senate, was created to extend the statute of limitations, it only does so for crimes committed after its passing. “But I hope this shines a light on why it’s so important to advocate for better laws. Evidence of violent crimes should not have an expiration date,” she continues. “I am grateful for the work law enforcement has done, and I am endlessly proud of all the survivors who risked everything to protect others by speaking the truth.”

Bianco also published a response on Instagram, writing that she was “deeply disappointed” but “sadly not surprised” that Warner avoided accountability. She had a relationship with Warner in 2011 and sued him for sexual assault, human trafficking, and abuse in 2021.

“Within our toxic culture of victim blaming; a lack of understanding of coercive control, the complex nature of sexual assault within intimate partnerships, and statutes of limitations that do not support the realities of healing; prosecutions face an oftentimes insurmountable hurdle,” Bianco writes. “I know the truth of what happened to me. It sits deeply rooted in my bell, unshakable, mine. No-one and nothing can take that away. And so to all the survivors reading this, who are being hit by yet another piece of stinging news and feeling hopeless or discouraged, let me remind you: you know your truth also. Let that be your anchor, for it is stronger than the bars of any prison.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Esmé Bianco (@esmebianco)