The woman who accused musical artist Bob Dylan of sexually abusing her as a child in 1965 has permanently withdrawn her lawsuit after Dylan’s attorney’s alleged that she destroyed evidence pertinent to the case.
In a lawsuit filed last August, the unidentified woman claimed Dylan supplied her with drugs and alcohol when she was 12 years old and then engaged in sexual assault “multiple times” over a six-week period. The resulting trauma was of “a permanent and lasting” nature and “incapacitated [the] plaintiff from attending her regular activities,” according to the suit.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2021, a representative for Dylan told TheWrap, “The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended.”
On Thursday, the plaintiff requested that the federal judge overseeing the case dismiss it “with prejudice.” The case will be closed permanently as a result without the potential for a refile.
“This case is over. It is outrageous that it was ever brought in the first place,” Dylan’s lead attorney Orin Snyder 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.”
Earlier this month, Judge Katherine Polk Failla had also reportedly warned the accuser’s attorney that financial sanctions could be imposed if emails and text messages were not supplied by a court-ordered deadline.
“For the love of god, produce these materials. You understand the consequences if you don’t,” the judge said to the accuser’s attorneys, according to Law360.
Just days later, the accuser fired her attorneys Daniel W. Isaacs and Peter J. Gleason. Dylan’s legal representation argued the move was a tactic to “evade court-ordered document production obligations.”
After failing to produce the messages by the court-ordered deadline, dismissing her legal team, and being accused of potentially destroying the evidence in question, the plaintiff has dropped her lawsuit against Dylan.
