Getty Images for Netflix
The musician denies any wrongdoing, calling the claims “vicious and completely false allegations of sexual misconduct.”
Prolific film and television composer Danny Elfman – best known for creating the theme song “The Simpsons” and the music behind “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Men In Black”, “Spider-Man” and most recently “Wednesday” on Netflix – is sued for breach of contract for non-payment of severance payments over allegations of sexual harassment.
A new investigation in Rolling Stone alleges that Elfman sexually molested Nomi Abadi, a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer 2015 and 2016.
Elfman denies the claims. Abadi is now suing Elfman for breach of contract for not making all the settlement payments. This is according to new legal documents reviewed by Variety.
Rolling Stone uncovers a police report Abadi filed with the LAPD in November 2017, in which she alleges that Elfman exposed himself and masturbated in front of her multiple times. Rolling Stone states that the police report categorized the allegations as “indecent exposure.”
Elfman denied any allegations of inappropriate behavior in a statement to Rolling Stone and said he never exposed himself or masturbated in front of Abadi. He described their relationship as “platonic,” the publication said, and alleges that “Abadi had attempted to pursue Elfman romantically and got revenge on him after rejecting her advances.”
The Rolling Stone article also accused Elfman of coercing Abadi into a nude photo shoot, claiming it was an “artistic shoot,” which he denies.
He is also accused in Rolling Stone of giving Abadi a jar of what Elfman described as semen. (Variety has verified a photo of the jar in question from an email Elfman allegedly sent to Abadi, partly captioned “to stimulate your imagination.”) A representative for Elfman told Rolling Stone that he “never claimed , it was semen.” categorizing the email as “a provocative slogan meant to be a joke,” telling the publication that the substance was actually Cetaphil moisturizer.
“How do I respond to allegations so serious that innocence is not a valid defense? It’s agonizing to think that a 50-year career can be destroyed in a single news cycle over vicious and utterly false allegations of sexual misconduct,” Elfman told Rolling Stone. “MS. Abadi’s claims are just not true. I let someone get close to me, unaware that I was her “childhood crush” and that she intended to destroy my marriage and replace my wife. As this one “As soon as the person realized I wanted distance from her, she made it clear that I would atone for my refusal. I have allowed an ill-advised friendship to have far-reaching consequences, and this misjudgment is entirely my fault. I have nothing lewd or Wrong things done and my lawyers stand ready to provide extensive evidence to prove these allegations false. This is the last thing I will say on this subject.”
A spokesman for Elfman told Rolling Stone that the “limited interactions between Elfman and Abadi, which did not involve sexual contact, were entirely consensual.”
Its spokesperson also told the publication that the settlement was in response to the #MeToo movement: “Given counter-party threats to publicize untruths at the height of the #MeToo movement, [Elfman] faced with the impossible choice of settling down, pursuing his career and supporting his family, or choosing to fight a fight for the truth that was unwinnable at the time – Danny chose his family. It’s disappointing, but unfortunately not surprising, that this unfounded narrative is reviving now that payments have stopped. Accusation alone should not and will not equate to guilt and Danny will defend himself and clear his name with the body of evidence and the other party’s own words – their words speak for themselves.”
An attorney for Abadi, Jeff Anderson of Anderson & Associates, disputes Elfman’s version of events, telling Variety, “Elfman has said that his relationship with Nomi Abadi was platonic and consensual. His account is as bizarre as his behavior towards her years ago. It wasn’t platonic. It was bizarre.”
Abadi, who did not speak to Rolling Stone for the investigation, entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Elfman in July 2018, signing an $830,000 settlement.
The Rolling Stone report said Abadi signed a non-disclosure agreement “because she felt she had no choice.” A friend of Abadi’s who spoke to the publication said, “She felt that if she said Elfman was an idiot, her career would be over.” And she’s right. I’m sorry to say this, but unfortunately that’s still how this industry works.”
Abadi filed a breach of contract complaint against Elfman in the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse Wednesday morning for failing to pay the full amount of her severance package. In court documents obtained by Variety, Abadi’s legal team writes that “in July 2018, the parties agreed to resolve an underlying dispute” in which Elfman made four payments totaling $830,000 over a five-year period performed. Some of the settlement funds would be donated to charities rather than directly to Abadi, the documents claim.
The complaint does not mention that the reason for the settlement was Abadi’s allegations, but Rolling Stone reports that “based on multiple sources and documents, the dispute relates to allegations of sexual misconduct.”
A source close to Abadi confirmed to Variety that the underlying allegations are sexual harassment. “You don’t pay $830,000 for a problem without consequences,” this person tells Variety.
A spokesperson for Elfman told Variety in a statement, “While we cannot comment on a lawsuit that we have not received, the fact that it found its way to the media before the defendant did further demonstrate that it is another stunt in something.” year-long campaign to demand money from Mr. Elfman and his family. The allegations are unfounded.”
Elfman’s rep also provided Variety with numerous documents, including screenshots of Abadi’s text messages and emails, as supporting evidence for Elfman’s denial.
Rolling Stone spoke to numerous friends of Abadi, who corroborated many of their claims. The report said that Abadi’s friends recall her excitement when she met Elfman in 2015 and that she was “hoping he would hire her as a mentee and serve as a launch pad for her career.” The report continued, “Abadi visited Elfman several times during the year at his recording studio, where alleged allegations of misconduct were made against Abadi.”
According to Abadi’s police report, Elfman’s “conduct went from being superficially friendly to being inappropriate within the first year,” writes Rolling Stone. The publication also reports that Abadi claimed in her police report that Elfman would go to the door of his recording studio in a bathrobe with no clothes underneath and declare, “That’s how he liked to work.” Abadi claimed in her police report, according to Rolling Stone, that Elfman allegedly insisted that masturbating “encourages his creativity.” Friends of Abadi told the publication that Elfman would invite them to his recording studio’s sauna, which his rep denied.
“She looked at him as a mentor,” a friend of Abadi’s told Rolling Stone, adding that she didn’t realize at the time that Elfman “absolutely crossed a barrier.”
Another friend tells Rolling Stone: “He said he wanted to show her his authentic self; Obviously it was about being naked a lot.”
An outspoken activist, Abadi has in the past spoken to the media about corruption and toxicity across the music industry, stating that the #MeToo movement skipped the world of composing but she credits Elfman as its perpetrator. This is the first time Elfman has been named in connection with her allegations.
Earlier this year, Abadi joined a group of sexual misconduct survivors at a press conference during Grammy weekend to call on the music industry to end the culture of harassment. Abadi is the founder of the Female Composer Safety League (FCSL), an organization dedicated to empowering women working in the industry. She has said that she is committed to exposing toxic and abusive conditions going on unchecked in composition studios.
Elfman has been one of the most powerful and influential composers in the film music world since the 1980s. Elfman has composed over 100 film scores over his four-decade career and is known for his long-term collaborations with Tim Burton on films such as Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and the Netflix series Wednesday campaigned for Emmys. Elfman is responsible for the music in a number of superhero films, including Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Oscar-winning films such as Good Will Hunting, and blockbuster franchises such as Men In Black and Fifty Shades of Grey “. As a performer, he is best known for his voice as Jack Skellington on the songs of The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which he composed.
As a musician, Elfman started out in the rock world as the frontman of the group Oingo Boingo. He returned to releasing his own albums with 2021’s Big Mess, which was followed by high-profile concerts mixing his rock and orchestral work at the Coachella and Hollywood Bowl in 2022. In 2015, Emmy and Grammy winner Elfman was honored with the Disney Legend Award and in 2022 with the Society of Composers and Lyricists Lifetime Achievement Award.
The allegations hurt the Oscar-nominated Elfman’s legendary career, but they also shed light on the world of composition, an area of the music industry that was under-explored during the #MeToo movement.