Bob Dylan and his attorneys have responded to the ongoing sexual abuse lawsuit against the singer-songwriter via a complaint filed in court yesterday (January 6.)
The complaint obtained by Rolling Stone reads, in part, “This case – based on plaintiff’s alleged interactions with Bob Dylan more than 56 years ago — is a brazen shakedown masquerading as a lawsuit. It was filed in bad faith for the improper purpose of extracting a huge payout on the threat of negative publicity. The allegation is false, malicious, reckless and defamatory. Mr. Dylan will not be extorted.”
The complaint further criticizes Dylan’s accuser writing, “According to her own website, plaintiff is a psychic who specializes in ‘channeling’ the deceased loved ones of grieving families — for a fee.” Additionally, the complaint alleges the plaintiff said she was once abducted by aliens and says she claims to be a medium of sorts and “…speaks to cats, dogs and other animals — alive and dead — as well as insects and plants.”
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Peter Gleason, an attorney for the plaintiff, said in response to the complaint, “Neither my client or her counsel are going to be bullied…Some people refer to Bob Dylan as a prophet. People have labels. More than half of Americans believe in psychic phenomena. If you’re going to attack somebody for their beliefs, you’re encroaching upon very dangerous territory. This is what this country is based on, freedom of beliefs. It shouldn’t divert our attention from the allegations. This case is about the facts.”
As previously reported in August 2021, the plaintiff, who is now 68 and has only been identified in court documents as “J.C.”, accused Dylan of sexually abusing her over a six-week period between April and May of 1965 when she was a 12-year-old girl.
When the lawsuit was filed, Page Six noted at the time, “The suit was filed late Friday (August 13), on the eve of the closure of the New York Child Victims’ Act look-back window. The window allowed victims of childhood abuse to file suit against their attackers and the institutions that protected them regardless of how old the claims were and whether they had since passed beyond the statute of limitations.”