After accusing Bob Dylan of sexually abusing a child in the 1960s, a federal appeals court has upheld legal fines against two lawyers who filed, and then dropped, the lawsuit.
Originally filed in 2021, the case featured salacious allegations about the legendary singer/songwriter with most music historians quick to state that it was chronologically impossible. After the star’s lawyers accused her of destroying key evidence, the unnamed accuser abruptly dismissed the case.
In a decision issued earlier this week, a federal appeals court upheld monetary penalties against the woman’s lawyers, whom Dylan’s attorneys have accused of making “heinous and false allegations”.
Arguing that they only found out the accuser had failed to turn over crucial emails after sending subpoenas, the appeals court called “particularly telling” in the new ruling.
While the $5000.00 penalties against one lawyer and $3000.00 against the other are relatively small, Dylan’s attorneys called them “essentially symbolic” and a “fraction” of the money he had spent defeating the case.
Identified in court documents only as JC, the plaintiff filed her case in August of 2021, claiming the iconic musician abused her multiple times at Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel in April and May of 1965. According to the lawsuit, Dylan plied her with drugs and alcohol and “exploited” his status as part of a plan to “sexually molest her.”
As Dylan vehemently denied all such allegations, rock historians quickly cast doubt about them, saying the 1960s folk star was on tour in California and overseas during the months in question.
Less than a year after it was initially filed, the case was dropped without a settlement.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: The White House from Washington, DC – Public Domain