Having recently won on appeal a partial reversal of his efforts to dismiss a pianist’s defamation lawsuit against him, Danny Elfman is asking that the remainder of the plaintiff’s suit be resolved in arbitration.
Plaintiff Nomi Abadi’s Los Angeles Superior Court complaint against Elfman pertains to remarks he made during a July 2023 Rolling Stone interview. Elfman’s denials of Abadi’s allegations of repeated sexual harassment and misconduct were included in an investigative piece about a settlement he made with his former mentee.
In a final ruling issued Christmas Eve 2024, then-Judge Gail Killefer rejected Elfman’s anti-SLAPP motion, which cited the litigation privilege. The state’s anti-SLAPP — Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation — law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
On May 27, a three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal partially overturned Killefer’s ruling. On Tuesday, his attorneys filed court papers with the current trial judge, William E. Weinberger, asking that Abadi be ordered to arbitrate her defamation allegation against him.
Elfman’s attorneys note in their court papers that Elfman and Abadi are already awaiting arbitration of the woman’s claims in a separate lawsuit in which she alleges the film and television composer breached the terms of a sexual harassment settlement agreement and owes $85,000.
“Because the arbitration provision encompasses Ms. Abadi’s defamation claim, this action should be compelled to arbitration,” according to Elfman’s attorneys’ pleadings. “The parties can and should resolve their disputes in a single, unified proceeding, without needless duplication of time, money, and effort.”
In the alternative, Weinberger should refer the defamation case to the arbitrator for a decision and stay the action pending the arbitrator’s resolution of the entire matter, according to Elfman’s lawyers’ pleadings.
Abadi’s attorneys previously filed court papers with Judge Karine Mkrtchyan, who is managing the contract case, informing her that arbitration before retired federal Judge Carla Woehrle is scheduled to begin March 9-12, 2027.
Elfman, 73, is represented by attorney Camille M. Vasquez, who was Johnny Depp’s lawyer in his dueling lawsuits with former spouse Amber Heard.
In court papers previously filed, Abadi stated in a sworn declaration that her defamation case is well-founded.
“My five years of hard work building a career in film composing has been destroyed as a result of Mr. Elfman’s blatantly false statements about me in the Rolling Stone article,” Abadi says. “His actions have forced me to abandon my dreams of film scoring to pursue other opportunities.”
Abadi, who contends Elfman had a fetish about nudity that included driving without clothing, says she suffers from severe emotional distress.
“I have been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and the humiliation, stress and fear for my personal safety have compounded these feelings, which collectively have had a profoundly negative impact on my personal life,” Abadi further contends.
Abadi’s application to the Association of Women Film Composers mentorship program was denied with no explanation after the publication of the magazine article, according to the plaintiff, who further maintains that exclusion from the program resulted in the loss for her of more composing opportunities.
Once Abadi’s romantic aspirations were dashed, the plaintiff turned on Elfman and made up a story that he had “behaved inappropriately around her,” according to the composer’s attorneys’ court papers.