The musician denies all wrongdoing, calling the claims “vicious and wholly false allegations about sexual misconduct”
A new investigation in Rolling Stone claims that Elfman sexually harassed Nomi Abadi, Grammy-nominated pianist and composer, in 2015 and 2016.
Abadi is now suing Elfman for breach of contract for failing to make all settlement payments, in new legal documents.
Rolling Stone uncovers a police report that Abadi filed with the LAPD in November 2017 in which she alleges that Elfman exposed himself and masturbated in front of her multiple times. The police report categorized the allegations as “indecent exposure.”
Elfman is also alleged to have coerced Abadi into a nude photoshoot, stating it would be an “artistic shoot,” which he denies.
He is also accused of presenting Abadi with a glass of what Abadi claimed Elfman said was semen.
Elfman said that he “never claimed it was semen” and categorized the email as “a provocative tagline that was meant to be a joke,” telling the publication that the substance was actually the moisturizing cream Cetaphil.
Abadi, who did not speak to Rolling Stone for their investigation, had entered into a non-disclosure agreement with Elfman in July 2018, signing a settlement worth $830,000.
Rolling Stone’s report says that Abadi signed a nondisclosure agreement “feeling she had little choice.” A friend of Abadi who spoke to the publication said, “She felt her career would be over if she said Elfman was a creep. And she’s right. I’m sorry to say, but that’s still unfortunately how this industry works.”
Abadi filed a complaint against Elfman at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse for breach of contract for not paying the full amount of her settlement.
In the court documents, Abadi’s legal team writes that “the parties agreed to resolve an underlying dispute” in July 2018, which included Elfman making four payments over the course of five years, totaling $830,000. Some of the settlement funds would be made to charitable organizations and not directly to Abadi, the docs allege.
The complaint does not mention the cause of the settlement for Abadi’s allegations, but based on multiple sources and documents that the dispute refers to claims of sexual misconduct.”
A spokesperson for Elfman said:“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.”
Rolling Stone spoke to numerous friends of Abadi who corroborated her allegations. They recall her excitement when she met Elfman in 2015 and that she was “hoping he’d take her on as a mentee and be a launchpad for her career.” The report continues, “Abadi visited Elfman at his recording studio several times over the year, where Abadi’s misconduct claims were alleged to have taken place.”
Elfman’s “demeanor turned from ostensibly friendly to inappropriate within the first year,” Rolling Stone writes. The publication also reports that Abadi claimed, in her police report, that Elfman would answer the door of his recording studio in a bathrobe with no clothes underneath, explaining “this was how he liked to work.” Abadi claimed, in her police report, per Rolling Stone, that Elfman allegedly insisted that masturbating would help “with his creativity.” Friends of Abadi told the publication that Elfman would invite her into a sauna at his recording studio, which his spokesperson denied.
Abadi is an outspoken activist about corruption and toxicity across the music industry, stating that the #MeToo movement has skipped over the world of composing, but she has alleged Elfman as her perpetrator. This is the first time Elfman has been named in connection with her allegations.
Abadi joined a group of sexual misconduct survivors to urge the music industry to stop enabling the culture of harassment. Abadi is the founder of the Female Composer Safety League (FCSL), an organization dedicated to the empowerment of women working in the business. She has said that she is committed to exposing toxic and abusive conditions that go unchecked in composing studios.
Elfman has been one of the most powerful composers in the film scoring world since the 1980s. Having composed over 100 film scores throughout his four-decade career, Elfman is known for his long association with Tim Burton on films like “Batman,” “Beetlejuice,” “Edward Scissorhands” and the Netflix series “Wednesday,” which has been campaigning for Emmys. Elfman is responsible for the music in a number of superhero movies including Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Oscar-winning films including “Good Will Hunting” and blockbuster franchises like “Men In Black” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.” He is most famous as a performer for his voice work as Jack Skellington in the songs of “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” for which he composed.
The accusations will tarnish a legendary career for the Oscar-nominated Elfman, but also shine a light on the world of composing, a sector of the music industry that’s scarcely been explored during the #MeToo movement.
