Arts & Entertainment

Marilyn Manson's WeHo Apartment Raided In Sexual Assault Case

Police seized media storage units including hard drives from the middle-aged rocker's home as part of an ongoing abuse investigation.

File Photo of Marilyn Manson on January 04, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The singer has been accused abuse by more than a dozen former partners and police raided his West Hollywood home Monday.
File Photo of Marilyn Manson on January 04, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The singer has been accused abuse by more than a dozen former partners and police raided his West Hollywood home Monday. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images))

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detectives raided the West Hollywood apartment of singer Marilyn Manson Monday in connection with ongoing sexual assault and sexual battery investigations.

Detectives serving a search warrant took media storage units including hard drives from the 52-year-old singer's home. Manson, whose real name is Brian Warner, was not home at the time, TMZ reported.

The warrant was served early Monday morning.

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The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed in February an ongoing domestic violence investigation after several former girlfriends accused him of physical and sexual abuse. According to CBS Los Angeles, at least 16 former partners have accused Manson of abuse with "Game of Thrones" actress Esme Bianco, an anonymous ex-girlfriend, and model Ashley Morgan Smithline suing the former rocker.

"The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Special Victims Bureau is investigating allegation(s) of domestic violence involving Mr. Brian Warner also known as 'Marilyn Manson,' who works in the music industry," the department confirmed to Patch at the time. "The incidents occurred between 2009 and 2011 when Mr. Warner lived in the city of West Hollywood."

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In Bianco's April lawsuit against Manson, she alleged sexual assault and sexual battery in what she described as a series of violent encounters.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleged that Warner had used "fraudulent offers of movie and music video roles to convince Ms. Bianco to travel to Los Angeles, whereupon Mr. Warner then made threats of force and performed violent sexual acts on Ms. Bianco to which she did not consent."

Also named in the suit is Warner's former manager, Tony Ciulla, who is accused along with his management company of violating trafficking laws.

According to the lawsuit, Bianco, 38, was invited to Los Angeles from the United Kingdom by Warner with the promise of work, and after moving into the Goth rocker's West Hollywood apartment in 2011, she was not allowed to eat, sleep or leave without his permission.

"Mr. Warner raped Ms. Bianco in or around May 2011," the suit alleges.

Warner's attorney, Howard E. King, said the allegations have no merit.

"These claims are provably false," King said in a statement provided to City News Service. "To be clear, this suit was only filed after my client refused to be shaken down by Ms. Bianco and her lawyer and give in to their outrageous financial demands based on conduct that simply never occurred. We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail."

In February, actress Evan Rachel Wood accused Warner of sexual and physical abuse during their relationship, which lasted from January 2007 until August 2010. His record label, Loma Vista Recordings, dropped him following Wood's accusation.

Warner denied Wood's allegations in a social media post.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

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