Evan Rachel Wood has commented on Marilyn Manson’s lawsuit against her on The View, where she was promoting her forthcoming HBO two-part documentary Phoenix Rising. “I can’t obviously speak about any of the specific allegations of the lawsuit, but I’m not scared,” Wood said. “I am sad, because this is how it works. This is what pretty much every survivor that tries to expose someone in a position of power goes though, and this is part of the retaliation that keeps survivors quiet. This is why people don’t want to come forward. This was expected.”

“I am very confident that I have the truth on my side and that the truth will come out,” Wood continued. “This is clearly timed before the documentary… I’m not doing this [film] to clear my name. I’m doing this to protect people. I’m doing this to sound the alarm that there is a dangerous person out there and I don’t want anybody getting near him. So people can think whatever they want about me. I have to let the legal process run its course, and I’m steady as a rock.”

Phoenix Rising details the alleged abuse Wood suffered while dating Manson — real name Brian Warner — in the mid-2000s. After the documentary was announced in January, Manson filed a lawsuit against Wood, alleging defamation, emotional destress, and “impersonation over the internet.”

Within the last week, Manson’s former assistant Ashley Walters amended a lawsuit of her own (filed in May 2021) to state that she’d repressed memories of the sexual abuse and battery she claimed to endure during her time working for Manson, and had only confronted them during therapy sessions in fall 2020. Walters’ initial filing accused Manson of “deranged” sexual harassment and assault, but the singer’s lawyers tried to have the lawsuit thrown out last fall, citing statute of limitations.

“While [Walters] could not recall many of the specific acts of intimidation, threats and coercion until Fall of 2020 or later, the compilation of numerous threatening and violent events instilled a constant state of fear of retribution and retaliation should Plaintiff, in any way, confront Defendants,” Walters’ lawyers wrote in the amended lawsuit.

“This also contributed to the fact that Plaintiff was unable to access many of the memories of her abuse until the effects of these threats and coercion subsided due to the public exposure of Warner’s abuse and the loss of his power in the industry when even his record labels and management dropped their representation of Defendants.”

Watch Wood’s full interview below.

The first part of Phoenix Rising debuts on HBO 3/15. Part 2 debuts 3/16.

If you or someone you know is suffering abuse, please contact RAINN’s National Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org.