Danny Elfman has lost a bid to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by fellow composer Nomi Abadi over statements he made to Rolling Stone in 2023 that were included in an investigative piece about a secret sexual harassment settlement made with his former protégé.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gail Killefer ruled that Abadi’s lawsuit will move forward, finding that Elfman can’t take advantage of a California statute allowing for the early dismissal of cases intended to chill free speech. The former Oingo Bingo lead singer tried to have Abadi’s case tossed on the grounds that on-the-record statements he made in a March 2023 letter to Rolling Stone were protected speech and enjoyed litigation privilege because they were made in anticipation of him suing Rolling Stone for defamation. However, “the litigation privilege does not apply to defendant Elfman’s statements” and the “letter functions more as a press release rather than a demand letter,” the court concluded in an order issued over the holidays. Judge Killefer added, “The court is not persuaded that litigation against Rolling Stone was seriously contemplated.” (Elfman never sued the publication.)
Judge Killefer drew a parallel to tactics used by Bill Cosby’s lawyers in his 2017 legal dispute with Janice Dickinson, who accused the comedian of rape. In Dickinson v. Cosby, the comedian’s attorneys sent a demand letter to media outlets and a press release characterizing the rape allegations made by the former model as false. Cosby later filed an anti-SLAPP motion and argued that the demand letter to media outlets was a prelitigation communication and thus privileged. The trial court sided with Cosby, but the court of appeal disagreed, noting that “the demand letter was a bluff intended to frighten the media outlets into silence (at a time when they could still be silenced), but with no intention to go through with the threat of litigation if they were uncowed.”
In July, Abadi sued Elfman, claiming that the prolific composer behind everything from “The Simpsons” theme to the iconic score of 1989’s “Batman” defamed her when he “peddled appalling lies” in response to Rolling Stone’s report titled “Danny Elfman Settled a Sexual-Harassment Allegation for $830,000.” The list of alleged lies included statements made by the Emmy winner that claimed he did not engage in sexual misconduct toward Abadi, never masturbated in front of her, never touched her inappropriately and “never placed his bodily fluids in a martini glass he presented to Nomi,” as she alleged. The complaint also slammed Elfman and his team for positioning Abadi as a scorned woman seeking revenge and money because she was rejected by her idol. According to Abadi’s defamation suit against Elfman, at least 20 high-profile publications repeated his and his representatives’ statements.
Elfman reportedly had entered into a non-public settlement and nondisclosure agreement with Abadi after she’d accused him of multiple instances of sexual harassment and misconduct that took place from 2015 to 2016. (Through an attorney, Elfman denied those allegations.) Abadi then sued Elfman for failing to pay the full settlement of $830,000.
Moving to dismiss the lawsuit, Elfman’s attorney Camille Vasquez, who famously helped Johnny Depp prevail in a defamation battle against Amber Heard, argued that the one-year statute of limitations had expired given that her client issued the statement to Rolling Stone in March 2023. But the judge threw cold water on that line of defense by noting that Elfman’s statements were ultimately published in July 2023, which is when the one-year clock would begin ticking, and that Abadi’s suit was filed in time.
In his motion to dismiss, Elfman also tried to frame his statements as opinion rather than fact. Again, Judge Killefer nixed that argument, writing that “a reasonable fact finder could conclude that the entire published statement made by Defendant Elfman declares or implies a provable false assertion of fact, that ‘Ms. Abadi’s allegations are simply not true’ and that she has made ‘wholly false allegations about [Elfman’s] sexual misconduct’ because Elfman rejected her advances and Plaintiff wanted Elfman to ‘pay for having rejected her,’” Judge Killefer wrote. “The court finds that such a statement constitutes a provable false assertion of fact and not a mere opinion about Plaintiff’s relationship with Elfman. Moreover, Plaintiff provides testimony that the statements in the July 2023 Article harmed her reputation and career aspirations.”
Elfman continues to work steadily and was the composer of last year’s box office hit “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Abadi is represented by Eric George, who worked with Heard at the inception of her legal battles with ex-husband Depp. Neither George nor Vasquez responded to a request for comment.
