Sexual assault lawsuit against Danny Elfman dismissed

A sexual assault lawsuit filed by an anonymous woman against Danny Elfman has been dismissed, according to Rolling Stone. “Jane Doe” accused Elfman of grooming and abuse between 1997 and 2002, when she was in her twenties and Elfman was twice her age; in her lawsuit, she claimed he frequently exposed himself to her and masturbated next to her while she was asleep and unable to consent. A judge found that the According to the outlet, the lawsuit “failed to prove” the elements of sexual assault required by the Awakening Act it cited.

Elfman denied the allegations in the lawsuit under oath, and since Doe was asleep at the time the judge found, “not a trial-ready fact” because she did not witness the crime herself. “The plaintiff has only made speculative statements that she may have been sexually abused,” the ruling states. “The court must assume that Elfman will testify to the same facts in his testimony that were set out in his statement. … There is no basis for concluding that additional evidence in the form of Elfman's testimony would help the plaintiff establish a trial-ready fact.” The claims of “gender-based violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual harassment and negligence” were deemed too old to pursue.

“We are disappointed but not shocked that the court has ruled that the law does not permit her case to proceed. It does not change the fact that Jane Doe exposed a serious threat: a respected celebrity who abused his position and power for his corrupt pleasure,” Doe's attorney Jeff Anderson said in a statement (via RS). Because Doe was asleep, “we were unable to present the case that met the legal requirements to proceed with the trial,” he said. “That does not change the fact that he manipulated and exploited his position against Jane Doe and at least one other survivor. This is still a testament to Jane Doe's courage in exposing a real danger in the entertainment industry.”

Elfman previously faced a lawsuit with similar claims. Fellow composer Nomi Abadi. Abadi settled with Elfman out of court, but later sued Elfman for breach of contract regarding the terms of their settlement. She separately sued the Oingo Boingo frontman earlier this year for defamation regarding comments he made to Rolling Stone about her allegations. The lawsuit is still pending.

In the meantime, Elfman's attorney Camille Vasquez (known for representing Johnny Depp in his lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard) responded to the news of Jane Doe's lawsuit with a statement saying, “The court's dismissal of this case confirms what we have said all along – that these claims are without merit.” Elfman's work is most recently featured in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.