Bob Dylan's lawyers call sexual abuse lawsuit a 'brazen shakedown'
Bob Dylan's lawyers have described the sexual abuse lawsuit against him as a "brazen shakedown".
In the lawsuit, which was filed in August, a woman only identified as "J.C." claimed she was 12 when the musician gave her drugs and alcohol before sexually abusing her "multiple times" at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in April and May 1965. Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, denied the allegations via a spokesperson at the time.
Last week, the accuser filed an updated version of the legal action in which she expanded the timeframe to "the spring" of 1965, and the singer-songwriter's lawyers responded in legal papers on Thursday.
According to Page Six, the lawyers called the case a "brazen shakedown" filed "for the improper purpose of extracting a huge payout on the threat of negative publicity" in their new paperwork.
They insisted the allegations are "ludicrous", "chronologically impossible" and "a pernicious attempt to extort Mr. Dylan" and claimed the story was "fantastical and fictitious" and made up for financial gain.
The Like a Rolling Stone hitmaker's team argue that he was away on tour for much of April and May 1965, while the accuser's attorney Daniel Isaacs maintained that there was time for Dylan to travel and carry out the alleged abuse in New York.
The musician's legal team said he is going to "vigorously defend himself against these lawyer-driven lies and seek redress against all those responsible, including by seeking sanctions against persons responsible for manufacturing and bringing this abusive suit."
