A London-based poet and self-described pin-up model going by the “stage name” Greta Aurora claims that she was approached by artist Ilma Gore and actor Evan Rachel Wood to “recruit” her into an alleged conspiracy to defame rock singer Marilyn Manson according to Newsweek.
Wood has named Manson, aka Brian Warner as the abuser she had refrained from mentioning in her testimony before a House Judiciary subcommittee. Aurora had a sexual encounter with the musician in 2011 when she was 19, and Warner was 42.
At some point during what she describes as a “brief sexual relationship” with Warner while he was visiting Vienna, Austria, Aurora met his then personal assistant Ashley Walters, who is currently suing Warner for sexual assault, battery, and harassment. Aurora claimed Walters “asked me to put my number in her phone at one point, so she could text me later that day to let me know when they were going to be back at the hotel where we were staying.”
“I believe it was Ashley who passed my details on to Illma Gore.” Aurora surmised. “I’m even referred to in Ashley Walters’s lawsuit as the sole example of his ‘degradation of his female fans.’ This is a lie. I wasn’t degraded or disrespected in any way.”
Aurora claims Gore then contacted her on behalf of The Phoenix Act nonprofit group Wood had created to aid abuse survivors in California. Aurora believes that this was an attempt to recruit her into what Manson’s lawyers have described as a defamatory conspiracy. Aurora provided a screenshot showing an invitation by Gore to an online meet-up where a group would “talk about experiences they had similar to yours.” Aurora categorized the meeting as an attempt to “coordinate their allegations against Marilyn Manson.” Manson was not mentioned in any of the screenshots. Nor did Aurora attend any meet-up.
“She [Gore] used her closeness to Evan Rachel Wood as a bait to get me involved, but I didn’t really know who any of these women were at the time, so I ignored the emails,” Aurora told Newsweek.
Warner’s legal team alleges in documents seen by Newsweek that Gore and Wood “provided checklists and scripts to prospective accusers, listing the specific alleged acts of abuse that they should claim against Warner.” Although Aurora provided no such document, presumably because she did not attend any of the meet-ups she was invited to, Warner’s lawyer provided Newsweek with an image of a photo of a handwritten piece of paper which included the statements, “He texted me saying he could rape me” and “I woke up tied up being raped.”
Warner’s team has filed a defamation suit against Wood to stop what attorney Howard King categorized as “a campaign of malicious and unjustified attacks on Brian Warner. Years after the end of Evan Rachel Wood’s long-term relationship with Warner, she and her girlfriend Illma Gore recruited numerous women and convinced them to make false allegations against him—claims that Wood and Gore scripted for them.”
The suit also alleges that both Wood and Gore conspired to impersonate FBI agents in order to investigate Warner and used a “fabricated FBI letter not only to convince others to join their crusade but also to dupe HBO” into distributing Wood’s upcoming autobiographical documentary Phoenix Rising which is reputed to contain several revelations and allegations regarding Warner.
King has further stated that “HBO and the producers have been made aware of these serious acts of misconduct, they have thus far chosen to proceed without regard for the facts.” However, Warner’s team has not filed suit against either HBO, director Amy Berg, or any producer of the film other than Wood.
Aurora has shown her allegiance to Warner’s team’s view of the situation in no uncertain terms, posting multiple links to the Newsweek article on her Twitter feed accompanied by pro-Manson hashtags. The poet’s YouTube channel, titled “Greta Aurora | Feminine Power & Agency,” features several videos discussing her exchanges with Gore and sympathizing with Warner. She has also expressed criticism of the #MeToo movement. A pinned tweet on her Twitter account reads, “It doesn’t take much for a woman to twist and distort her experience with a man for personal gain.”
