Getty/Photo: Manny Ruiz
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, contains detailed allegations of misconduct by the famed musician and songwriter.
Composition Nomi Abadi Batman and Beetlejuice composers sued Danny Elfman The defamation claims stem from comments he made to Rolling Stone magazine last year, which were included in an investigative story about a settlement he reached with his former mistress after she accused him of repeated sexual harassment and misconduct.
Abadie’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that Elfman “spread egregious lies about Nomi to Rolling Stone magazine.” The list of alleged lies includes statements by “The Simpsons” composer and his representatives that claim he never engaged in sexual misconduct with Abadie, that he never masturbated in front of her, had any inappropriate touching or “poured his own bodily fluids into a martini glass offered to Nomi.” The suit also accuses Elfman and his team of portraying Abadie as “a scorned woman seeking revenge and money, making Elfman ‘pay for his rejection.'” Abadie claims that Elfman suggested that she “invited Elfman’s misconduct, including by demanding that nude photographs be taken of her.” As a result, “Nomi’s career ambitions were thwarted.” [were left] In tatters.”
Complaints can be varietyThe lawsuit is the latest attack by Abadie, a classically trained pianist and up-and-coming composer, against Elfman, a prolific film and TV composer and founder of pioneering new wave band Oingo Boingo. Eric George, a lawyer who represented Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp in the early stages of their legal battle, filed the lawsuit on Abadie’s behalf. George and Abadie declined to comment.
Elfman is represented by Camille Vázquez, who gained fame for helping his client Depp nearly win a lawsuit against Heard in a televised Virginia trial in 2022. Elfman’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elfman said, Rolling Stone magazine article A July 2023 article revealed that Elfman had entered into a previously unreported settlement and non-disclosure agreement after accusing Abadie of sexual harassment and misconduct multiple times between 2015 and 2016 (Elfman, through his lawyer, denied those allegations). In the article, Rolling Stone reported that it had uncovered a report Abadie had filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, in which Abadie alleged that Elfman had exposed himself and masturbated in front of her multiple times without her consent. Rolling Stone also reported that Abadie was suing Elfman for not paying him the full $830,000 settlement. Wednesday’s lawsuit marks the second lawsuit Abadie has filed against Elfman in open court.
During October, A second woman has accused Elfman of sexual misconduct. She filed the lawsuit under the name Jane Doe XX. In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the woman alleged that Elfman frequently exposed his genitals during meetings between 1997 and 2002. The complaint also states that the woman was Elfman’s 21-year-old “protégé” at the time the alleged affair began. (Elfman’s lawyers have called Jane Doe XX’s claims “baseless and absurd.”)
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Abadie alleges that Elfman “has violated her privacy.” [posing nude]Abadie, who divorced Nomi when Elfman was 61 and Nomi was 26, claims that he “masturbated in front of Nomi, apologized afterward and promised not to do it again.” The suit also claims that Grammy and Emmy Award winner Elfman “inappropriately touched Nomi, apologized afterward, and then threatened her in an attempt to keep his misdeeds a secret.” In the most bizarre subplot, Abadie’s suit alleges that Elfman’s representatives falsely denied that Elfman put his own semen in the martini glass and falsely claimed that Abadie knew it wasn’t semen. Elfman’s representatives claim in the Rolling Stone article that the glass contained the moisturizing cream Cetaphil and that Abadie knew it was a “silly photo prop.” “Indeed, Elfman admitted to offering Nomi a glass full of semen,” the suit states.
Elfman’s comments were widely circulated. “At least 20 prominent publications have repeated slanderous statements made by him and his representatives against Nomi,” the suit adds. As a result, work opportunities have allegedly disappeared for the up-and-coming composer, who has worked on a series of short films and the 2023 film “Sebastian.” “Nomi suffers from PTSD, anxiety, depression, nervousness and fears for his safety.” “Following the online harassment fueled by these defamatory statements,” the lawsuit states.
The power imbalance between the two seems large. Elfman, a four-time Oscar nominee with Kraft Engel Management, remains one of the industry’s most sought-after composers. He wrote the iconic themes for “The Simpsons” and, more recently, Netflix’s “Wednesday.” Elfman, 71, is a frequent collaborator with Tim Burton, scoring most of Burton’s films, including 1989’s “Batman” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and has worked with everyone from Noah Baumbach to Sam Raimi. Upcoming films include Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice.” Moreover, the composing industry is tight-knit, male-dominated and union-free. Mentorship is essential for young composers trying to find their footing.
But the mentor-mentor relationship can be fraught with minefields. According to Abadie’s lawsuit, Elfman frequently disrobed in professional settings and “asserted nudity as an essential part of the creative process and that a nude environment did not connote a sexualized environment.” The suit continues: “Defendant Elfman repeatedly rebuked Nomi’s belief that nudity was inappropriate in a studio environment and asserted that it would be in her artistic interest to change her conservative views regarding nudity.”
Elfman “periodically began opening the door to his studio, opening the front of his robe to expose his genitals,” the suit alleges, and showed his followers a gallery of images stored on his laptop of Elfman posing naked with women he called “special friends.” “Esperant to prove to Nomi that other women had been around him naked ‘artistically’ and ‘non-sexually,’ he urged Nomi to pose for a similar photo shoot with him,” the suit alleges. “Nomi told Elfman that she found the photographs stylistically appealing but was uncomfortable with the idea. Defendant Elfman became enraged at Nomi and again reprimanded her for her modesty.”
During a group trip to Paris, Elfman convinced Abadie to participate in a photo shoot that was purportedly artistic and non-sexual. However, he “suddenly grabbed his penis with one hand and Nomi’s wrist with the other, forcing her hand against her genitals,” according to the complaint. “Nomi was caught off guard and frightened. Defendant Elfman began masturbating vigorously and instructed Nomi to do the same. Nomi froze in fear and pretended to soothe Defendant Elfman. Relieved that the moment was over in seconds, Nomi was stunned and trembling. Nomi remembers Defendant Elfman staring at her with wide eyes as if shocked. Defendant Elfman then removed the memory card from Nomi’s camera, returned the empty camera to Nomi, and later saved the photos to his computer. Defendant Elfman instructed Nomi not to tell anyone about Paris or she would “die.”
During their final meeting in 2016, the suit alleges, a political conversation escalated into a shocking outburst from Elfman. After Abadie expressed his fear of presidential candidate Donald Trump and his support for candidate Bernie Sanders, Elfman responded, “We can’t let Jews run our country,” according to the suit. (Elfman is Jewish.) “The hours-long argument ended with Defendant Elfman, red in the face, raising his fist and yelling at Nomi,” the suit continues. “Nomi, already aware of Defendant Elfman’s anger and frightened but remaining calm, raised his voice at Defendant Elfman, yelling, ‘Fuck you and your whole generation,’ at which point Nomi left the studio.”
In February 2023, Abadie said at a pre-Grammy Awards press conference that, despite being a member of the Recording Academy, she did not vote for the Grammys because the nominee list included “abusers.” Elfman was nominated for a Grammy for Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Other women who spoke at the press conference condemned the use of NDAs and said they are used by powerful men in the music industry to silence women.
Meanwhile, the issue of the LAPD report, which is not addressed in today’s lawsuit, raises even more questions that remain unanswered. In an article last year, Rolling Stone cited details from the report, but a representative for the LAPD noted that they “cannot find the report and the police have ‘no information or statement to provide.'”
