New York, NY (Top40 Charts) A lawsuit alleging
Bob Dylan sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in 1965 has been dropped.
In a hearing on
Thursday (July 28), the unidentified accuser -- referred to only as "J.C." in court documents -- requested the case to be dismissed "with prejudice." The sudden action came after the defense team alleged the plaintiff deleted crucial messages related to the case.
The original lawsuit, filed in August of 2021, accused Dylan of abusing the woman more than 50 years ago, supplying her with drugs and alcohol, threatening her with physical violence and leaving her "emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day."
The singer-songwriter's lawyers were quick to categorize the suit as a "brazen shakedown masquerading as a lawsuit," alleging the woman's lawyers were just looking "to profit off of this fraudulent lawsuit." Dylan's representatives voiced similar opinions upon the case's dismissal.
"This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place," Dylan's lawyer 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."
Elements of the case had become increasingly convoluted in the days leading up to the dismissal.
At a July 15 hearing, the judge warned the plaintiff's attorneys that they may face serious consequences if they did not turn over emails and text messages that had been requested for the case.
Days later, the accuser fired her lawyers, a move Dylan's legal team characterized as "designed to evade court-ordered document production obligations and the threat of sanctions." Dylan's attorneys later claimed the plaintiff permanently destroyed the emails and text messages in question.
The decision to dismiss the case "with prejudice" means that it will be permanently closed and cannot be refiled.
