According to Consequence, Bob Dylan’s legal team has formally responded to sexual abuse allegations, calling them “false, malicious, reckless and defamatory.” The allegations were made by an anonymous woman who claims that Dylan sexually assaulted her when she was just 12 years old. Dylan’s legal team called the lawsuit a “brazen shakedown.” 

According to Consequence, the alleged victim, now 68 years old, claimed that in 1965 Bob Dylan lowered her inhibitions in order to sexually abuse her, while also emotionally and psychologically harming her as well. She claimed there were “drugs, alcohol and threats of physical violence.” Initially, the timeline of the lawsuit did not make sense as Bob Dylan was on tour during the alleged period. Last week, the lawsuit was amended and now claims that the abuse took place over the course of several months. 

Dylan’s legal team responded to the allegations, saying ““Mr. Dylan will not be extorted. Mr. Dylan will vigorously defend himself against these lawyer-driven lies and seek redress against all those responsible, including by seeking monetary sanctions against persons responsible for manufacturing and bringing this abusive lawsuit.” 

Dylan’s legal team highlighted the fact that this woman is a psychic who claims to speak with the dead, both humans and animals, and has also claimed that she was once abducted by aliens. In response, the anonymous woman’s lawyer, Peter Gleason, said “Neither my client or her counsel are going to be bullied. 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.”

The change to the lawsuit came after Bob Dylan’s biographer, Clinton Heylin, pointed out that the accuser’s timeline was not possible.