Names and faces
■ Esme Bianco, an actress known for her work on “Game of Thrones,” on Friday filed a lawsuit in which she accused singer Marilyn Manson of sexual assault and sexual battery, and described a series of violent incidents when they lived together in 2011. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, said Manson, whose real name is Brian 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.” The suit also named Manson’s longtime manager, Tony Ciulla, and his management company, accusing Manson and Ciulla of violating trafficking laws. Bianco flew to Los Angeles in 2009 for a video shoot that, the lawsuit said, turned into a multiday assault during which she was whipped and suffered electric shocks. The footage was never released, the suit said. She and Manson later began a consensual relationship, it said, and in 2011 he persuaded Bianco, who is British, to live with him in Los Angeles “while he helped her secure a visa and launch her career in the United States.” During that time, the lawsuit said, she endured “constant abuse” at his hands, and he raped her. Howard King, a lawyer for Manson, called the claims against him “provably false” and said they were “based on conduct that simply never occurred.” In a statement, he accused Bianco and her lawyer of a shakedown attempt. “We will vigorously contest these allegations in court and are confident that we will prevail,” he said in the statement.
■ Comedian-actor Leslie Jones will take the stage as host of the MTV Movie & TV Awards this month. The network announced Wednesday that Jones will host the awards, which will air live on May 16 from Los Angeles. The awards show celebrates the best moments in movies and television over the past year. The Emmy-nominated Jones is currently the host and executive producer of ABC’s “Supermarket Sweep” and appeared in “Coming 2 America,” which is streaming on Amazon Prime. She also hosted the BET Awards in 2017. Previous Movie & TV Awards hosts include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart and Adam DeVine. Last month, MTV announced that Disney Plus series “WandaVision” leads the awards with five nominations. Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” and Amazon’s “The Boys” each scored four nominations.