Bob Dylan has been accused of grooming and sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in 1965, an explosive new lawsuit alleges.
USA Today and TMZ report that the lawsuit, filed late Friday (August 13) in Manhattan Supreme Court, finds a plaintiff identified as J.C. and their legal representation claiming 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 further alleges that the iconic songwriter "exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times" over a six-week period between April and May of 1965.
"Dylan's predatory, sexual and unlawful acts against Plaintiff amounted to a series of harmful and offensive contacts to Plaintiff's person, all of which were done intentionally by him to her without her consent," the lawsuit, filed by attorney Daniel W. Isaacs on behalf of the plaintiff, reads in part.
J.C. claims that as a result of the abuse, she has "suffered and continues to suffer from emotional and physical injury, including, but not limited to, serious and severe mental distress, anguish, humiliation, and embarrassment, as well as economic losses." While she currently resides in Greenwich, CT, the lawsuit was filed in New York due to allegations that the abuse took place in Dylan's apartment at the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan.
USA Today notes that the lawsuit was filed before the August 14 closure of the "look-back" window in the New York Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, which allowed a two-year period for those who were sexually abused as children to file suit against their alleged abuser or the institutions who enabled the abuse.
The lawsuit accuses the 80-year-old Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff J.C. is seeking unspecified damages and trial by jury.
A spokesperson for Dylan told USA Today and TMZ in a statement today that "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."
Last year, Dylan released his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. A new instalment of his Bootleg series is due out next month.
USA Today and TMZ report that the lawsuit, filed late Friday (August 13) in Manhattan Supreme Court, finds a plaintiff identified as J.C. and their legal representation claiming 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 further alleges that the iconic songwriter "exploited his status as a musician to provide J.C. with alcohol and drugs and sexually abuse her multiple times" over a six-week period between April and May of 1965.
"Dylan's predatory, sexual and unlawful acts against Plaintiff amounted to a series of harmful and offensive contacts to Plaintiff's person, all of which were done intentionally by him to her without her consent," the lawsuit, filed by attorney Daniel W. Isaacs on behalf of the plaintiff, reads in part.
J.C. claims that as a result of the abuse, she has "suffered and continues to suffer from emotional and physical injury, including, but not limited to, serious and severe mental distress, anguish, humiliation, and embarrassment, as well as economic losses." While she currently resides in Greenwich, CT, the lawsuit was filed in New York due to allegations that the abuse took place in Dylan's apartment at the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan.
USA Today notes that the lawsuit was filed before the August 14 closure of the "look-back" window in the New York Child Victims Act, passed in 2019, which allowed a two-year period for those who were sexually abused as children to file suit against their alleged abuser or the institutions who enabled the abuse.
The lawsuit accuses the 80-year-old Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiff J.C. is seeking unspecified damages and trial by jury.
A spokesperson for Dylan told USA Today and TMZ in a statement today that "the 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended."
Last year, Dylan released his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. A new instalment of his Bootleg series is due out next month.