Film composer, voice actor, and solo artist Danny Elfman is being sued for defamation by composer Nomi Abadi. The lawsuit is over comments Elfman made to Rolling Stone in 2023 regarding sexual harassment allegations, a settlement in court, and a nondisclosure agreement (NDA).
According to a report by Rolling Stone, Elfman and Abadi entered into an $830,000 settlement and NDA in 2017. Both the settlement and NDA came one year after the alleged incidents that included Elfman exposing himself to Abadi, taking nude photographs of Abadi in a hotel in Paris, and that "he presented her a martini glass filled with what she said Elfman told her was semen."
Abadi filed a breach of contract lawsuit in July 2023, stating that Elfman had missed payments on the settlement, which was placed in arbitration that same year. In 2024, Abadi's lawyers stated that Elfman's lawyers had still not scheduled the arbitration, and accused Elfman of "peddling lies" to Rolling Stone in a 2023 story about the lawsuit.
"Defendant Danny Elfman peddled appalling lies for publication to Rolling Stone about Nomi, who had previously in an earlier lawsuit truthfully relayed facts corroborating his penchant to sexually abuse women," read a portion of the lawsuit. "Why? As part of a harebrained ‘zero sum' scheme by Elfman to prop up his checkered reputation by destroying Nomi's credibility."
Abadi alleges that Elfman defamed her by denying that any of the aformentioned incidents ever occurred, that he claimed Abadi was the one that wanted to do the nude photo shoot, and that he denied the martini glass was actually filled with the skin care product Cetaphil and not semen.
"Defendant Elfman lied about Nomi, branding her as a scorned woman attempting to break up his marriage, and as someone who initiated nude photography," reads the suit. "As a result of Elfman and his representatives' defamations, Nomi has suffered humiliation, both personally and professionally, within their shared composing industry, and online, and harm to her professional reputation and her occupation as a composer, musician, and educator."
Elfman and his lawyers have not yet responded to these claims.
