There’s another defamation case currently playing out. Following the verdict in the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial, interest in celebrity lawsuits still seems to be at a high. For those keeping tabs, another defamation suit has been filed by Marilyn Manson after his ex Evan Rachel Wood accused the singer of abuse years after speaking out in front of a judiciary committee as a victim of abuse. Online social media users seem to be trending toward following the happenings of this new suit, particularly after a 6,000 page unsealed doc was released in the Depp case which also brought Manson to the forefront.
We already know there was high interest in the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial when it played out. Fans on TikTok became so engrossed in the trial, Depp created a TikTok to thank the fans for their support after it ended. Deep dives of the Manson/Wood case are also being done on TikTok and elsewhere and seeing thousands of views.
Many Twitter and YouTube users also gained followings during the trial, with a report over at Insider citing several accounts that were interested in and blew up during the events of the Heard and Depp case now pivoting to Marilyn Manson.
That outlet also recently spoke with Rachel Gevlin, who teaches at Birmingham-Southern College and who said she would not be surprised to see similar things happen with Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood should that particular case play out in court. Her reasoning?
There's a centuries-long history of readers who enjoy hearing the salacious details of the rich and famous.
Emphasizing this possibility further is the fact that Marilyn Manson and Johnny Depp know one another and the singer's name came up in the other case. Manson never took the stand; however, text messages Johnny Depp had sent him played a role in the recently unsealed documents. In court, Depp was even asked about his relationship with Manson, noting they “done drugs together” a few times. Some of the same audience that was interested in the Depp/Heard trial could be interested in this case.
Similar to Amber Heard getting trolled during and after she fought with her ex in court, a petition already exists to ban Evan Rachel Wood from social media, though it’s worth noting its thousand plus signatures pales in comparison to petitions about Amber Heard. One petition requesting Amber Heard be removed from Aquaman 2 has garnered over 4.6 million signatures.
In a separate interview over at Indiewire, #MeToo attorney Lee Feldman told that outlet that the Manson situation could play out very differently given the accusations and how the singer is perceived in pop culture.
I think that the Marilyn Manson case is going to be a different situation. Marilyn Manson is not Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp is well-liked and almost a beloved figure in some circles. His movies generated billions of dollars and he has legions of fans. Marilyn Manson’s fan base is very particular and very limited. He’s not somebody who has widespread public support in the way that Johnny Depp does.
Marilyn Manson has denied claims made by Evan Rachel Wood and others, but the accusations have cost him work. His former record label removed his work from its website and he lost a role on the Starz series American Gods he had previously been a part of as part of his semi-regular acting career. In the meantime, the singer hasn’t shied away from controversy. Earlier this year, Manson was asked to remove a video depicting sexual assault from his YouTube page.
