Rolling Stone has uncovered a previously unreported 2018 sexual-misconduct lawsuit against Danny Elfman. The plaintiff in that suit, composer Nomi Abad, is suing Elfman for failure to pay $85,000 of the $830,000 settlement. The sexual-misconduct lawsuit reportedly alleged that Elfman exposed himself to Abad and masturbated in front of her on multiple occasions. Rolling Stone also uncovered a 2017 police report in which Elfman was accused of “indecent exposure.†Elfman denied all allegations against him in a statement to Rolling Stone. “How do I respond to accusations so serious that being innocent is not a valid defense? It is excruciating to consider that a 50-year career may be destroyed in one news cycle as a result of vicious and wholly false allegations about sexual misconduct,†he said in part. “I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false.â€
Abad founded the Female Composer Safety League (FCSL) in 2020, a nonprofit intending to “break stigmas in the industry surrounding trauma and shame.†In February of this year, two days before the Grammys, Abad spoke out at a press conference about alleged abusers on the Grammy ballot. “I saw the names of [alleged] abusers who were nominated for Grammys this year, and I was unable to bring myself to vote,†Abadi said. “I simply cannot fathom the idea of going along with an industry that allows silence-breakers to be vilified, or participating in a voting process that lauds abusers while some of us are barred from career opportunities because we spoke out.â€