An unnamed woman who sued Bob Dylan last year, alleging he sexually abused her in 1965 when she was 12 years old, withdrew her suit yesterday. The development came a day after Dylan’s attorneys claimed she destroyed key evidence in the case, “irretrievably” compromising the lawsuit’s integrity. The accuser faced a $50,000 sanction for the violation and the suit can’t be refiled.
The voluntary dismissal comes a few days after the accuser fired her attorneys during discovery.
The accuser, who goes by J.C., had alleged that Dylan sexually abused her between April and May of 1965 when Dylan was either 23 or 24 years old (Dylan’s birthday is on May 24) at the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York City. As per the original complaint, J.C. alleged that Dylan “exploited his status as a musician by grooming J.C. to gain her trust and to obtain control over her as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse J.C.”
The suit also claimed that Dylan gave J.C. drugs and alcohol and that she “sustained physical and psychological injuries” and continues to suffer to this day as a result of the alleged abuse.
Dylan experts, including biographers Clinton Heylin and Anne Margaret Daniel, noted inconsistencies with the timing of the alleged incident, saying that the music icon wasn’t in New York City at the time.
“This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place,” Dylan’s lead attorney, Orin Snyder, said in a statement to Billboard. “We are pleased that the plaintiff has dropped this lawyer-driven sham and that the case has been dismissed with prejudice.”
