Bob Dylan Accused of Drugging, Sexually Abusing 12-Year-Old in 1965

[Zorro]

Source: Daily Beast

“Dylan exploited his status as a musician...as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse J.C.,” a bombshell lawsuit claims.

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan allegedly groomed and sexually abused a 12-year-old girl multiple times when he was living at New York City’s Chelsea Hotel in 1965, a bombshell lawsuit states.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, states that in a six-week period between April and May 1965, Dylan “exploited his status as a musician” to gain the trust of a young girl identified in court filings only as “J.C.,” according to the lawsuit, a copy of which was provided to The Daily Beast by J.C.’s attorney, Daniel Isaacs.

“Dylan exploited his status as a musician by grooming J.C. to gain her trust and obtain control over her as part of his plan to sexually molest and abuse J.C.,” the suit claims.

J.C. claims she “suffered and continues to suffer from emotional and physical injury, including, but not limited to, serious and severe mental distress, anguish, humiliation, and embarrassment, as well as economic losses,” the filing states.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/bob-dylan-accused-of-drugging-sexually-abusing-12-year-old-in-1965

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56 years seems like a long time to wait to file charges.

[secondwind]

1. Strange story...........

[hlthe2b]

2. I don't see justice (whatever the truth, whatever justice might be) being likely after 56 years

This isn't a judgment on the veracity of the accuser or the accused but just a reality. Witnesses (or correlating confidants) on either side are likely dead by now

[The King of Prussia]

59. There is a documentary film

providing incontrovertible evidence that Dylan was in England at the time.

[hlthe2b]

60. Wow... Only underscores the point. As a Dylan fan, that is good to hear.

[The King of Prussia]

61. You'll love this thread then

Link to tweet

This means that the far-too-many genuine victims of child sexual abuse are less likely to be believed. How can lawyers take on this sort of case, when evidence of its falsity is just sat there on Wikipedia?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

3. After 56 years?

Good luck with that.

[twin_ghost]

5. New York Changed the statute of limitations for sexual abuse.

She had a one year period where she could sue her abuser.

[cstanleytech]

7. I thought retroactively changing it for cases where the statute of limitations had expired was

not allowed or have the courts reversed on that?

[PoliticAverse]

9. Stogner v. California

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stogner_v._California

Stogner v. California, 539 U.S. 607 (2003), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, which held that California's retroactive extension of the statute of limitations for sexual offenses committed against minors was an unconstitutional ex post facto law.

[twin_ghost]

21. That was about criminal prosections not civil lawsuits.

Civil laws can be changed retroactively.

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. Going to be difficult to prove, since Dylan wasn't in NY for most of that time period.

From April 22-May 20, He was playing concerts on the West Coast and the UK, then went on vacation in Portugal before returning to NY to record his next album. Before that time, his previous Concert was on April 3 in Berkeley.

[Docreed2003]

6. Was actually going to post something similar

Between April and May of 65 Dylan was in the UK on the infamous "Tour of England"

[George II]

29. Where did he perform in New York during that period? The Chelsea Hotel is on W. 23rd Street....

There were no music venues near there - the closest might be the Filmore East in the East Village or Bitter End or Village Gate in Greenwich Village.

Unless of course he was playing at the McBurney Y down the street from the Chelsea!!

I went to high school and college in the area from 1963 through 1972 (yes, six years for college!!) and knew the area well.

[Fiendish Thingy]

31. Dylan had no concerts in NY between 3/21-8/28/65

In fact, his only East Coast appearances during that time period was at Newport Folk Festival in July.

[greenjar_01]

52. Everybody stayed in the Chelsea Hotel

You didn't have to have a concert near there.

[iemanja]

69. Are you certain he never returned to NY

at all while he was touring? It seems plausible that he might have.

[Fiendish Thingy]

73. The time period from April 22-May 20 is well documented

After his last West Coast tour date, he flew to England to prepare for his tour starting on April 30, as well as to meet and prepare with the filmmakers who were documenting the tour (the film, “Don’t Look Back” is available on DVD, and provides visual evidence of his presence in the UK). Following the tour, he flew to Portugal with his soon-to-be wife Sara for a two week vacation.

They returned on or about May 20, when a welcome home party was given in NY.

The only gap in the time period covered in the lawsuit is from April 3, when he had a concert in Berkeley, to His next West Coast show on April 22. No other concerts or recording sessions are documented during that time.

The suit alleges a six week period in April/May, and there is clear evidence Dylan was not in NY for a continuous six weeks during those months. In fact, at most, he could only have possibly been in NY for 3-4 weeks total.

The woman bringing the suit should get her day in court, but it’s going to be a tough case to make.

[iemanja]

74. So he wasn't in England the whole time

and I would wager he stopped in NY when traveling from England to the West Coast. At any rate, if he wasn't in NY, the case will be quickly dismissed. I guess having one's day in court only applies to men.

I don't know whether Dylan did anything or is being falsely accused, but I grow tired of the constant knee-jerk reaction that women are always lying.

[Fiendish Thingy]

75. He went from the West Coast to England, not the other way around.

Even if the case is dismissed for lack of merit/evidence, the accuser will have had her day in court, just as Trump had his day in court (x 60 courtrooms) contesting the election without merit or evidence.

[iemanja]

76. Yet most of the responders in this thread

have already concluded she is lying.

Even after the AG report about Cuomo came out, many people were insisting there was no proof until he had his day "in court." This when most of the allegations aren't even criminal.

Bottom line, women are always liars and accused men are always innocent in the prevailing discourse. That's what bothers me. I don't know about this woman, but I'm willing to wait for the evidence on both sides.

[PoliticAverse]

8. "If You Remember the '60s, You Really Weren't There". n/t

[George II]

30. Ah, I do and I was. But I was a nerd and missed out on a lot of fun.

[ashredux]

10. 1965? Ahhh....come on now....

[musette_sf]

11. Since Dylan's publicly-known timeline

makes this more than a bit suspicious, I wonder why this would be brought now....

"The price was not disclosed, but is estimated at more than $300 million."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/arts/music/bob-dylan-universal-music.html

[sarcasmo]

16. Dylan was in England on tour from late April through Mid May 1965. Looking

for other confirmed tour dates.

[pnwmom]

20. He was in Seattle on April 24th, 1965, performing with Joan Baez.

https://www.bobdylan-comewritersandcritics.com/pages/programmes/dylan-seattle-24-april-1965.htm

[musette_sf]

23. I've also heard

that he moved out of the Chelsea in 1964.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

12. And Brigitte Bardot made advances toward me the same year.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

[LeftInTX]

44. Lawsuit!

[marble falls]

13. I can wait until it gets into a court.

[maxsolomon]

14. I really hope this is not true.

1965 is the year that Bringing It All Back Home & Highway 61 Revisited were released.

He toured England with the Band and Joan Baez accompanied him.

He left her, then courted and married Sara Lownds in '65.

The man was busy, too say the least.

I don't know when he would have had the time to groom and abuse a 12 year old, or if he even lived in the Chelsea Hotel.

[Crowman2009]

41. Not to mention that he was quite hopped up on pills and joints at the time.

Wasn't he obsessed with confronting his critics after going electric when he wasn't playing?

[The King of Prussia]

58. He was touring England

at the same time he was supposedly abusing a child in New York. A tour that was, famously, documented on film.

[rpannier]

15. tbh: I wouldn't be surprised either way

The 60s produced some really weird musicians (and people in other fields as well)
John Lennon was an abuser. Jim Morrison hit on 13 and 14 year olds and so on
We'll see

[ansible]

17. The 60s was a fucked up time sexually

https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/the-sexual-revolution-and-children-how-the-left-took-things-too-far-a-702679.html

[rpannier]

18. Agreed

I was born in 64
My father was 20 in 1960
Some of the stories he'd tell of people he knew and worked with and their sexual attitudes and behaviors were just bizarre

[ashredux]

22. That has not changed. How one looks has... bizarre has been with us since the dawn of man

[rpannier]

24. Just read the article. Uhhhh... Wow?!

That is so demented and wrong
I remember on 60 Minutes they had some group in Thailand that attracted men to their group through "Flirty Fishing". It was, of course, young girls that did the "flirty".

[musette_sf]

25. "Flirty Fishing"

That was the so-called "Children of God".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flirty_Fishing

[rpannier]

28. Ahhhh... Thank you

I was about 10 when that story was on 60 Minutes
I only remembered a bearded guy and the term "flirty fishing"

Read part of the link
Hookers for Jesus?!
and
As the women were expected to keep exact records of their "fruits" (successes), a 1988 statistic showed that more than 223,000 men had been "fished" since 1978

What a world

[milestogo]

39. I remember getting pamphlets from them in downtown Chicago in the 70s.

Could not make sense of it.

[LeftInTX]

47. Why did you get pamphlets from them?? LOL

I actually went on an inner city retreat to downtown Chicago. 1978. We went to Rush Street at night. Saw sharply dressed young women standing in porn shops. They would not make eye contact with us. We stared at them, but they did not look at us.

Saw a cliche dressed up older woman with a leopard shawl and white poodle...Lots of men were paying attention to her. She looked like she came out of central casting...

We called it the "Hicks gawk at prostitutes in the big city" tour

The event was pretty much a cast of characters...and us dummies were loving it........

Honestly without that retreat, I would have been clueless about nightlife in Chicago..

[milestogo]

54. Wow thats some kind of retreat.

They were handing out their pamphlets on street corners in the Loop where I worked. Creepy guys.

[LeftInTX]

56. We also went to Jesse Jackson's church

We got on the bus and it was mostly white..like us...then, it got a little mixed..then we were the only whites...As a matter of fact, when we looked out the windows, we didn't see any white people....

It was fun. We were told that we were expected to give an offering, which we did...
We met some people after church and talked to them.
Got back on the bus and by now we were used to being the only white people around...
Eventually though, the bus got whiter and whiter...

[WinstonSmith4740]

55. Chicago was a great place to live in the 70's!

I lived in New Town area in the early 70's. At least I think so. It was the 70's afterall.

[iemanja]

68. Are you saying that children are guilty of bringing about

their own assault because they "flirt"? Is that what your story is supposed to mean? Forgive me if I misunderstand.

[rpannier]

70. No, I'm not

I was referencing something that happened in Thailand by a cult that used young girls as 'bait' to attract men.
It was the term used by that group.

[iemanja]

71. Ok, thanks for clearing that up.

I clearly misunderstood.

[rpannier]

72. It's fine. No offense taken

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Memory is not a videotape machine

[pnwmom]

26. His concert schedule from April - May 1965 is at this link.

He had 4 concerts on the west coast between April 3 and April 24, and then had a concert in England on the 30th.

http://www.bjorner.com/65.htm

An opinion piece about the claim.

https://www.showbiz411.com/2021/08/16/bob-dylan-hit-with-bogus-lawsuit-claiming-molestation-in-nyc-april-may-1965-not-possible-he-wasnt-there

[madaboutharry]

27. That is a very bizarre story.

Child molesters are serial criminals. They have scores of victims. The man is 80 years old now and yet there has never been an accusation until now. If something sinister in his life involved children, I would think he would have been ruined years ago.

Furthermore, anyone who has ever read even a book or two about Bob Dylan knows that he likes women, very grown up women. And lots of them.

By the way, there is a movie called “Don’t Look Back” in which Bob Dylan can clearly be seen in England during this time.

Secondly, the Chelsea Hotel was a dive.

[musette_sf]

33. There's also a movie about Dylan called "I'm Not There"

and that would seem to be the story here...

[Martin68]

46. I agree, madaboutharry. Child molesters always exhibit a pattern of abuse over the years.

For all his well-documented faults, nothing has ever suggested such a pattern exists in Dylan's case.

[localroger]

32. This is very clearly bullshit

Considering the times we have lived through, it beggars the imagination that someone who is now nearly 70 years old is suddenly so traumatized at something that happened 56 years ago when she was 12 that she needs to bring a suit about it.

Women who were actually abused should be outraged by this. At this point nothing is provable (except perhaps that it's bullshit because Dylan wasn't even in the place where he is accused of doing the crime, per many media reports of the era). It's strictly a cash grab, and not a very well thought out or executed one.

[Sneederbunk]

34. An attempt to get some money before he dies.

Did not know there was no SOL for civil case.

[Shrike47]

35. I was involved in a mental commitment case; the woman said Mick Jagger fathered her child.

I give this case the same credibility assessment.

[Cheezoholic]

36. Does the fact that

she was probably taller than him at that time play into it?

[musette_sf]

37. AJ Weberman can get to the bottom of this

Surely he has some of Bob's garbage from 1965

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-in-the-alley-the-alan-j-weberman-story-189254/

[hamsterjill]

38. So the victim was born in 1953?

That would make her older than I am, and that’s old!!!

This is an attempt to smear a famous person before they pass away. We have reached absurdity.

[dflprincess]

42. I was born in 1953

perhaps you'd like to rethink your statement about age. My mother was 88 when she died, her sisters used ot shake their heads about how young was when she left us. (One sister made it to 97 the other is 95 and going strong - still living on her own). 68 is not old in my family.

However, I do agree with the last line of your post.

[hamsterjill]

48. Longevity is (thankfully) rampant in my family.

I like the way you think.

I also like Bob Dylan and frankly, I’m tired of nonsense such as this. 1965 was a long time ago.

Have a great rest of your evening.

[dflprincess]

53. You have a good evening too

[Lord Ludd]

49. It's all relative -- to me she's a youngster

BTW, when my time comes I want to "pass away" rather than die. If we Murkans had a holiday like Mexico's Dia de los Muertos (fat chance!), we'd call it Day of the Passed Away. (At least it rhymes.)

[3Hotdogs]

50. When its my turn, I wanna go like David Rockefeller... heart attack while getting it on...

Didn't know if he was coming or going.

[Lord Ludd]

51. I know that's how brother Nelson died

Are you sure David died the same way?

[MarineCombatEngineer]

66. Ha!!!.

You're not old, I was born in 1947, now that's old.

[LeftInTX]

43. This is a civil suit, not a criminal suit...

J.C., who is now 68, lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to the lawsuit. She is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial.

Maybe something happened, maybe it didn't. Maybe he has a reputation and may not "remember her" and she is hoping he will "settle".....Maybe she needs money.

Look I could say something happened between me and Jimmy Page or between me and Robert Plant...Would they remember? Probably not....Would it be possible? Probably in their minds it would be..LOL

I would know the truth, but they wouldn't....

[Martin68]

45. I'll repeat what others have pointed out: 56 years later? It will be interesting to se what evidence

or witnesses can be brought forward to substantiate the charges.

[The King of Prussia]

57. Bearing in mind that Dylan was touring England at the time

My best guess is "none".

[BradAllison]

67. The time line doesn't hold up

The thing with guys like Dylan is music historians tracked his whereabouts obsessively.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

62. What if ...

I am picturing a young man who had been told he bore a slight resemblance to the famed singer decide to impress a young girl by telling her he was Dylan during the time he was staying at the hotel. He eventually took advantage of her.

She thought he was Dylan. He disappeared, probably to abuse other girls in his future.

She has been either telling or hiding this story her whole life. Now someone convinced her there is money to be made.

Thus the lawsuit. She believes it, whether it is possible or not.

This is entirely supposition. I know nothing about he case or the people involved. I am not saying this did happen. I wonder if it could have.

[Demsrule86]

63. I don't see it.

[Martin68]

65. Absolutely it could have happened back in the day. Dylan's appearance was not unusual, and anybody

with the right dark curls hair, etc could have pulled it off after a joint or two on an ususpecting teenage runaway.

[The King of Prussia]

77. Maybe, probably not

But what's for certain is that 5 minutes or less research would demonstrate that the allegation is unequivocally false. What are her lawyers thinking? If she repeats it in court she'll be committing perjury.

[MySideOfTown]

64. Was she just like a woman?

Blonde on Blonde? 1966