Danny Elfman is singing a different tune after sexual harassment allegations have been made public.
A new report by Rolling Stone revealed that Elfman settled a sexual harassment claim for $830,000 in 2018. Composer and musical prodigy Nomi Abadi alleged in July 2018 that mentor Elfman repeatedly exposed himself to her, sent disturbing text messages, and masturbated multiple times in her presence without her consent. A Los Angeles Police Department report at the time cited “indecent exposure” in the case. Elfman’s attorney has refuted the claims.
Abadi is now suing Elfman five years later over Elfman allegedly failing to pay the settlement fee in whole. Per court documents, Abadi “agreed to resolve an underlying dispute which included terms that [Elfman] would make payments in four different categories in various installments over the course of five years totaling $830,000.00.” Elfman did not pay two $42,500 installments in both July 2019 and July 2021, per the filing.
Abadi, who is 35 years Elfman’s junior, met the “Wednesday” composer in 2015. Among the allegations, Abadi claims that Elfman presented her with a martini glass filled with semen in summer 2016; Elfman’s representative is now stating it was a “stupid photo prop” using Cetaphil, not bodily fluids. Abadi additionally alleges that Elfman took a nonconsensual nude photo shoot with her.
Abadi, a member of the Recording Academy, has since founded the nonprofit group Female Composer Safety League to “break stigmas in the industry surrounding trauma and shame.” Abadi has addressed Grammy voters as an advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct.
Elfman issued the following statement to Rolling Stone refuting Abadi’s claims:
“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,” the longtime Tim Burton collaborator said. “Ms. Abadi’s allegations are simply not true. I allowed someone to get close to me without knowing that I was her ‘childhood crush’ and that her intention was to break up my marriage and replace my wife. When this person realized that I wanted distance from her, she made it clear that I would pay for having rejected her.”
Elfman continued, “I allowed an ill-advised friendship to have far-reaching consequences, and that error in judgment is entirely my fault. I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false. This is the last I will say on this subject.”
His attorney categorized Elfman’s relationship with Abadi as “limited interactions, which did not involve sexual contact, that were fully consensual.”
Elfman’s representative added, “When faced with threats from the other party to go public with untruths at the height of the #MeToo movement, [Elfman] faced the 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 — Danny chose his family. It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, that this baseless narrative would be revived now that the payments have stopped. Accusations alone should not and do not equate to guilt, and Danny will defend himself and clear his name with the volume of evidence and the other party’s own words — her words speak for themselves.”
The spokesperson continued, “While we can’t comment on a lawsuit that we haven’t received, the fact that it has made its way to the media before the defendant further shows that this is another stunt in a years-long campaign to demand money from Mr. Elfman and his family. The allegations are baseless.”
Abadi’s lawyer Jeff Anderson responded to the Elfman statements.
“It is ironic that Mr. Elfman’s current statements are directly contrary to the position he maintained in the underlying dispute and to the evidentiary record,” Anderson said. “The attacks on Ms. Abadi today by Mr. Elfman and his representatives are as bizarre as his previous behavior towards Ms. Abadi. He pressured Ms. Abadi to sit for an ‘artistic’ photo shoot to be included in his existing photo gallery of him with many other women. He has refused to this day to return those photos.”
Abadi spoke out about being an abuse survivor during a February 2023 press conference announcing why she did not vote for the Grammys this year. To note, Elfman was nominated for an award during the ceremony.
“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 at the time (via Rolling Stone). “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.”
Abadi added, “There is a clear and urgent need to center the experiences of survivors of sexual assault in the music industry, who have lost their careers because they were abused and silenced.”
