After a four-year investigation into sexual assault and domestic violence allegations, singer Marilyn Manson will not face charges. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced its decision on Friday.
“We have determined that allegations of domestic violence fall outside of the statute of limitations, and we cannot prove charges of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, has been accused of sexual assault and/or misconduct by more than a dozen women, including ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood. He had been under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 2021 and denied wrongdoing.
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“We recognize and applaud the courage and resilience of the women who came forward to make reports and share their experiences, and we thank them for their cooperation and patience with the investigation,” Hochman continued. “While we are unable to bring charges in this matter, we recognize that the strong advocacy of the women involved has helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault.”
Manson’s attorney issued a statement on Friday: “We are very pleased that, after a thorough and incredibly lengthy review of all of the actual evidence, the District Attorney has concluded what we knew and expressed from the start: Brian Warner is innocent.”
Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco was among the women who came forward with allegations against Manson. In 2020, she sued the musician, saying she suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse. She and the shock rocker settled the lawsuit in January 2023.
-In a statement following the DA’s decision, Bianco said she was “deeply disappointed” by the news, but “sadly not surprised.”
“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 wrote on Instagram. “Once again, our justice system has failed survivors.”
Bianco clarified she was not disappointed in the detectives or prosecutors “who worked for years on this case, but the system that made them do so with one hand tied behind their collective backs.” She said she would not let this impact her “healing and peace.”
In February 2021, Wood publicly came forward on social media and accused Manson of “horrifically abusing” her for years. They were together in 2007, when she was 19 and he was 38. They reportedly were engaged in 2010. The Westworld star hinted for years that she suffered alleged abuse in their relationship, but the now deleted social media post was the first time she named Manson. Wood alleged Manson groomed her as a teenager as she was “brainwashed and manipulated into submission.”
Manson denied the allegations and sued Wood for defamation in 2022. In November 2024, he dropped the lawsuit and agreed to pay Wood’s legal fees. Manson also settled a lawsuit in 2023 with a Jane Doe who sued the singer for rape. She said the incident happened in 2011.
Manson has been on a sold-out international world tour amid the investigation. On Wednesday, he announced his first U.S. tour dates since the scandal unfolded publicly.
