The civil lawsuit involving Marilyn Manson of sexually assaulting his former assistant is heading to trial.
As reported by Rolling Stone, Judge Steve Cochran granted a jury trial date of November 15, 2027, for the civil lawsuit, which was first filed in 2021 but was dismissed and subsequently resurrected twice. “We’re confident the case will never get to trial after the court hears our upcoming motion for summary judgment,” said Howard King, the lawyer representing Manson, in a statement.
In 2021, Ashley Walters alleged that Manson sexually assaulted her during an incident in a bedroom in May 2010. She alleged that she was pushed onto the bed, pinned back, and he forced her hand into his underwear during the incident. He later suggested they could work together professionally, and she accepted a job as his assistant. However, he allegedly later assaulted her multiple times, including incidents in which he would whip her and physically attack her.
The lawsuit accuses Manson of both sexual assault and battery. It was initially dismissed in May 2022 by a different judge, but it was revived by an appellate panel. They determined that she did not file the lawsuit in a timely manner because trauma caused her to suppress her memories. Judge Cochran, the current judge on the case, dismissed it in 2025 after Walters failed to show that she suppressed her memories due to trauma, but he revived it earlier this year citing California’s AB 250 law, which allows victims of sexual assault to refile cases previously dismissed as untimely.
Multiple women have accused Manson, real name Brian Warner, of sexual assault, including his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood. In Walters’ lawsuit, she claimed that she saw Manson assault Wood during an incident in which he threw a prop skull at her. He has reached two out-of-court settlements with other accusers.
