Danny Elfman Slapped With Lawsuit Over Unpaid Sexual Harassment Settlement

The man behind the iconic opening theme of "The Simpsons," the songs of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," several "Spider-Man" movies, and the recent opening theme for Netflix hit "Wednesday," Danny Elfman, has hundreds of credits to his name. It's with this massive impact on pop culture in mind that fans are currently reeling from the revelation that the Oingo Boingo singer-songwriter settled a sexual misconduct lawsuit during the summer of 2018 with fellow composer Nomi Abadi. 

As reported by Rolling Stone, Elfman agreed to pay Abadi $830,000 as part of the quiet settlement. However, the issue has now crept into public knowledge due to two missed payments of $42,500 from 2019 and 2021, according to a lawsuit filed by Abadi. Abadi, who is 35 years younger than Elfman, alleges that the composer exposed himself to her on multiple occasions and proceeded to pleasure himself in her presence without her consent.

The incidents in question first came to light when Nomi Abadi reported them to the LAPD back in November of 2017. The report states that Danny Elfman has been charged with indecent exposure. However, when Elfman responded to the newly released information, he denied that events occurred as Abadi reported them.

"Ms. Abadi's allegations are simply not true," Elfman said. "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," the composer explained.

Naturally, this paints a very different version of events from Abadi's lawsuit. Critics might wonder why Elfman agreed to the settlement in the first place if his version of events is true. Though there have been cases of false accusations regarding sexual impropriety in the past, they are thought to encompass only a small fraction of these types of cases.

Either way, it looks like there is going to be a long road ahead for this case now that it has become public knowledge. How it will affect the career and legacy of the well-known composer and musician will remain to be seen as news continues to develop around the lawsuit.