Prolific film and television composer Danny Elfman — known for creating “The Simpsons” theme song and the music behind “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Men In Black,” “Spider-Man” and most recently, Netflix’s “Wednesday” — is being sued for breach of contract for failing to make settlement payments due to allegations of sexual harassment.
A new investigation in Rolling Stone claims that Elfman sexually harassed Nomi Abadi, a Grammy-nominated pianist and composer, in 2015 and 2016.
Elfman denies the claims. Abadi is now suing Elfman for breach of contract for failing to make all settlement payments, in new legal documents that have been reviewed by Variety.
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. Rolling Stone states that the police report categorized the allegations as “indecent exposure.”
Elfman denied all accusations of improper behavior in a statement to Rolling Stone, stating he did not expose himself or masturbate in front of Abadi. He described their relationship as “platonic,” the publication reports, and claims that “Abadi had attempted to pursue Elfman romantically and retaliated against him after he spurned her advances.”
In Rolling Stone’s article, 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 in Rolling Stone of presenting Abadi with a glass of what Abadi claimed Elfman said was semen. (Variety has reviewed a photo of the glass in question from an email that Elfman allegedly sent Abadi with the caption, in part, “to pique your ‘magination.”) A representative for Elfman told Rolling Stone 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.
“How do I respond to accusations so serious that being innocent is not a valid defense? It is excruciating to consider that a 50-year career may be destroyed in one news cycle as a result of vicious and wholly false allegations about sexual misconduct,” Elfman told Rolling Stone. “Ms. Abadi’s allegations are simply not true. I allowed someone to get close to me without knowing that I was her ‘childhood crush’ and that her intention was to break up my marriage and replace my wife. When this person realized that I wanted distance from her, she made it clear that I would pay for having rejected her. I allowed an ill-advised friendship to have far-reaching consequences, and that error in judgment is entirely my fault. I have done nothing indecent or wrong, and my lawyers stand ready to prove with voluminous evidence that these accusations are false. This is the last I will say on this subject.”
A spokesperson for Elfman told Rolling Stone that Elfman and Abadi’s “limited interactions, which did not involve sexual contact, were fully consensual.”
His spokesperson also told the publication that the settlement was a reaction to the #MeToo movement: “When faced with threats from the other party to go public with untruths at the height of the #MeToo movement, [Elfman] faced the impossible choice between settling and continuing his career and earning a living for his family or deciding to fight what at the time was an unwinnable battle to tell the truth — Danny chose his family. It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, that this baseless narrative would be revived now that the payments have stopped. Accusations alone should not and do not equate to guilt, and Danny will defend himself and clear his name with the volume of evidence and the other party’s own words — her words speak for themselves.”
An attorney for Abadi, Jeff Anderson of the firm Anderson & Associates, disputes Elfman’s version of events, telling Variety, “Elfman has said that his relationship to Nomi Abadi was platonic and consensual. His account is as bizarre as his conduct towards her was years ago. It was not platonic. It was bizarre.”
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 on Wednesday morning at the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse for breach of contract for not paying the full amount of her settlement. In the court documents — which have been obtained by Variety — 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 being for Abadi’s allegations, but Rolling Stone reports that “based on multiple sources and documents that the dispute refers to claims of sexual misconduct.”
A source close to Abadi confirms to Variety that the underlying allegations concern sexual harassment. “You don’t pay $830,000 for a non-consequential issue,” this individual tells Variety.
A spokesperson for Elfman tells Variety in a statement, “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.”
Elfman’s spokesperson also provided Variety with numerous documents including screenshots of text messages and emails from Abadi, as reinforcing evidence of Elfman’s denial.
Rolling Stone spoke to numerous friends of Abadi who corroborated many of her allegations. The report states that Abadi’s friends 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.”
Abadi’s police report states that 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.
“She looked at him as a mentor,” a friend of Abadi’s told Rolling Stone, adding that she did not realize, at the time, that Elfman was “absolutely crossing a barrier.”
Another friend tells Rolling Stone, “He said he wanted to show her his authentic self; apparently, that involved being naked a lot.”
Abadi is an outspoken activist and has spoken to the media in the past 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.
Earlier this year, Abadi joined a group of sexual misconduct survivors at a press conference during Grammys weekend 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 and influential 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.
As a musician, Elfman got his start in the rock realm 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 Coachella and the Hollywood Bowl in 2022. In 2015, the Emmy and Grammy-winning Elfman was honored with the Disney Legend Award, and, in 2022, with the Society of Composers and Lyricists Lifetime Achievement Award.
The accusations stand to 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 has scarcely been explored during the #MeToo movement.
