The previously-dismissed lawsuit against Marilyn Manson by ex-assistant Ashley Walters is now going to trial.
Manson was sued by Walters for "sexual assault, battery, and harassment". The case was dismissed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Stern in 2022 on the grounds of Walters waiting too long to file the lawsuit and failing to prove why the statute of limitations should be overlooked.
Stern originally heard Walters' case in February 2022 and dismissed it after determining that Walters had not presented enough evidence to overcome the statute of limitations. Stern allowed Walters to file an amended complaint to be heard again, which has now been dismissed. "The plaintiff has pleaded too few facts and too late to keep this case in court," Stern said in his ruling.
Walters' amended lawsuit added she was not able to participate in actor Evan Rachel Wood's new documentary Phoenix Rising due to "a constant state of fear of retribution and retaliation." Manson's lawyers also sought to have Walters's case dismissed earlier in 2022 due to the statute of limitations.
Now according to Billboard, an appeals court has ruled that Walters' claim of being unable to remember repressed events until undergoing medical help is a sufficient reason for the lawsuit to move forward.
"'Until she received diagnosis and treatment, Walters [says she] was unable to remember the repressed events, and once she did recall them, she was unable to immediately identify these events as abuse,' the court wrote. These allegations of suppressed memories and psychological blocking are sufficient to withstand [dismissal]."
A trial date for this case has not yet been set.
