It has been reported that Danny Elfman has been sued for defamation by one of his sexual misconduct accusers.
The musician and composer was sued on Wednesday (July 10) over the statements he made to Rolling Stone last year which were included in a piece about a settlement he made with Los Angeles composer Nomi Abadi following her accusations of him and his repeated sexual harassment and misconduct toward her.
Abadi’s suit – which was filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claimed that Elfman “peddled appalling lies for publication to Rolling Stone about Nomi.” It also claims that the alleged lies made by Elfman and his representatives – which claimed that he did not engage in sexual misconduct toward Abadi – allegedly painted Abadi as “a failed temptress who lied about him for reasons of revenge and greed,” (per Rolling Stone).
“Defendant Elfman lied about Nomi, branding her as a scorned woman attempting to break up his marriage, and as someone who initiated nude photography,” read the suit. “As a result of Elfman and his representatives’ defamations, Nomi has suffered humiliation, both personally and professionally, within their shared composing industry, and online, and harm to her professional reputation and her occupation as a composer, musician, and educator.”
Last year, Abadi previously accused Elfman of exposing himself and harassing her in 2017, before reaching a settlement of $830,000 (£645,000) to silence the claims. Abadi filed a lawsuit in July over breach of contract, alleging that Elfman missed multiple payments related to the settlement.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, a representative for Elfman denied all of the allegations. “The allegations of misconduct made against Mr. Elfman are baseless and absurd,” the rep said. “His legal team is assessing all options and he will vigorously defend these claims in court.”
Three months after Abadi’s initial lawsuit, a second woman came forward to accuse the Beetlejuice composter of sexual misconduct. The suit, which was filed anonymously by a Jane Doe accuser in Los Angeles claimed that Elfman frequently exposed himself to her and allegedly told her that he masturbated next to her while she was asleep and couldn’t consent to the act. A representative of Elfman has denied the allegations.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing both Abadi and the Jane Doe accuser, told the outlet: “It’s important to this Jane Doe that Nomi knows she’s not alone anymore, that what was done to her by Elfman mirrors in so many ways what was done to Nomi.”
Anderson added that the Jane Doe accuser spoke out to send a message to those who “made efforts to destroy the lives of others who found the courage to speak up.”
Responding to Abadi’s previous allegations, Elfman claimed they were “vicious and wholly false,” adding: “I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false.”
Elfman’s representative also claimed that the settlement with Abadi was made because his client was forced into making “impossible choice between settling and continuing his career and earning a living for his family or deciding to fight what at the time was an unwinnable battle to tell the truth”.
In response, Abadi’s lawyer called the comments “directly contrary to the position he maintained in the underlying dispute and to the evidentiary record”.
In other news, Elfman is slated to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, where he’ll reprise his role as Jack Skellington for the Bowl’s The Nightmare Before Christmas show.