A second woman has made sexual assault allegations against Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning composer Danny Elfman.
In documents filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the accuser, a 47-year-old Maryland woman named Jane Doe XX, alleges that Elfman sexually abused her from 1997 to 2002. She is suing Elfman and his company, Musica de la Muerta, for sexual assault, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment and negligence.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Danny Elfman stated: “The allegations of misconduct against Mr. Elfman are baseless and absurd. His legal team is assessing all options and he will vigorously defend these claims in court.”
According to the complaint, the plaintiff met Elfman at a party in April 1997, when she was a 21-year-old student at the New York Film Academy and Elfman 47, and he began inviting her to industry events, soliciting her opinions about films and music and treated her as ‘an advisor and protégé’.
According to the complaint, over the next five years, when the plaintiff and Elfman were alone together, Elfman “removed all of his clothing until he was completely naked and walked around naked in front of the plaintiff, exposing his genitals. Defendant Elfman told plaintiff this was the only way he could work, be creative and be successful.” Due to Elfman’s prominent role in the entertainment industry, Plaintiff felt that “she had no choice but to always comply with his requests, and Plaintiff believed that this was a condition of their continued relationship.”
Elfman took Jane Doe XX to cast and crew meetings Good Will Hunting and a scoring session at Sony, and in 1998 invited her to stay at his home in Topanga Canyon, California, for several weeks while she looked for her own apartment in Los Angeles.
The plaintiff alleges that she sometimes slept in the same bed as Elfman, “never removing her clothing, often sleeping on top of the bedding,” while Elfman slept naked next to her. Around 2002, she says, Elfman told her, “Every time you ever slept next to me, I masturbated next to you.” The plaintiff ended her relationship with Elfman after this disclosure.
The case mirrors that of composer Nomi Abadi, who sued Elfman in July for failing to pay a settlement reached in 2018, according to court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Abadi’s July filing alleges Elfman failed to pay $85,000 of an $830,000 settlement.
According to reports first print in Rolling stone in July, the 2018 lawsuit alleged that Elfman exposed himself multiple times and masturbated in front of Abadi without her consent. The outlet cited a 2017 police report in Los Angeles that accused Elfman of indecent exposure. In July 2018, Elfman entered into a settlement and confidentiality agreement with Abadi. Elfman denied sexually harassing Abadi Rolling stone, issuing a statement saying: “Ms. Abadi’s claims are simply not true.”
When Jane Doe XX of Maryland read about Abadi’s case, she contacted Abadi’s attorney mentioned in the story, Jeff Anderson. Anderson says Jane Doe XX told him, “The similarities are so striking. Around the same age, both ambitious in the entertainment industry, who looked to him as a powerful mentor and trusted him and were not in a position to acknowledge that they were both being used and abused. Jane Doe XX is seeking damages “including but not limited to medical and incidental expenses and loss of income.”
Elfman, the lead singer of ’80s New Wave band Oingo Boingo, has collaborated with Tim Burton on projects such as Batman And Edward Scissorhands and Sam Raimi Spider-Man And Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. He earned Oscar nominations for it Men in black, Good Will Hunting, Big fish And Milk.
Elfman is expected to appear at The Hollywood Bowl on October 27, 28 and 29 as part of Disney’s “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in Concert,” featuring artists including Halsey, Catherine O’Hara and Fred Armisen.
