Warning: This article contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault and sexual battery.
When allegations of sexual abuse against Marilyn Manson first surfaced publicly earlier this year, model and actress Ashley Morgan Smithline was one of the first women to come forward, sharing her story in an Instagram statement. Now, a few days after former Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco filed a lawsuit against the shock rocker and his former manager alleging sexual assault and battery, Smithline has detailed her relationship with Manson in a new interview with People.
Describing Manson as the “most terrifying monster in the world,” Smithline claims that, during their two-year relationship from 2010-2012, the singer allegedly “bit her, whipped her, cut her with a swastika-emblazoned knife and shoved his fist in her mouth during sex.” Smithline, who is of Jewish descent, said that Manson would ask her to find Nazi memorabilia to bring back to him. “He kind of made it like this is just like a joke between us,” she told the magazine. “I think at that point, I was already coerced enough that I felt he would not like me if I didn’t bring those things. If I’d known the weapons would be used on me, I think it would have felt a lot stranger.”
Smithline said Manson first reached out to her in the summer of 2010. After meeting in November 2010, he eventually moved her into his West Hollywood apartment, which she says was when his demeanor started to change. In the article, Smithline claims that Manson “forced her to do a blood pact” and would send her into a “bad girl’s room,” a soundproof glass enclosure in his bedroom, whenever she “pissed him off.” When he allegedly raped her for the first time, she says Manson told her: “You can’t rape someone that you’re in love with.”
Smithline says that she continues to suffer from OCD, night terrors, and PTSD, and that her healing process didn’t fully kick off until she met with Evan Rachel Wood, Esmé Bianco, and several other of Manson’s alleged victims this past September. “Being with the other girls, these feelings of guilt and shame have lessened,” she said.
A spokesperson for Manson has denied Smithline’s claims in a statement to People, writing: “There are so many falsehoods within her claims that we wouldn’t know where to begin to answer them. This relationship, to the limited extent it was a relationship, didn’t last one week.”
After allegations against Manson were first reported back in February, the singer was dropped by his record label, Loma Vista, and was removed from various TV episodes.
Reach Out for Help
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, we encourage you to reach out for support.
Crisis Text Line
UK: Rape Crisis
US: RAINN