Dylan

[RobM]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/20...-abuse-lawsuit

[Artificial Hipster]

Fucking hell. Sounds horribly believable, poor woman if so.

My music collection is essentially Dylan and the rest. I'm devastated.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's worse than Jacko in a way because, with him, you can still listen to his best album, Off The Wall, and know he probably wasn't abusing kids in that period, whereas (if true) this wipes out the whole catalogue unless you separate art and artist.

[Nefertiti2]

Dylan was in the Uk in April and May 1965

[danielmak]

Dylan was in the Uk in April and May 1965

This is the problem with news media reporting any time someone files a lawsuit or makes a police complaint versus waiting to see what actually happens. Every week Pitchfork has at least 1 story and often more about charges filed against an artist. Very rarely is there a follow-up story. Anybody can file charges against anybody or file a lawsuit, and any lawyer can create a press release. It's irresponsible journalism to report on these things. Wait until a police investigation happens or a civil suit goes to trial.

Of course, some musicians are scumbags, rapists, commit sexual assault. Those stories should be reported if police charges have been filed or a civil suit goes to trial. I understand that in some cases, people will argue that the reports function in the public interest: word gets out and women (and men) can be protected, but I don't think that's the goal of any news agency. They want the headline big (Dylan) or small (some indie rock artist).

I'm not saying Dylan is innocent here. I don't know. But it's ridiculous to run this story at this point.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Dylan was in the Uk in April and May 1965

Exactly.

"The period between Dylan arriving at London airport on April 26th 1965 and playing the second of two sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall on May 10th is surely the most well-documented fortnight of his career." Clinton Heylin The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry, Feeling, (1941–1966)

Anyone claiming he was elsewhere, for any reason, couldn't have chosen a more untenable time period.

[RobM]

Exactly.

"The period between Dylan arriving at London airport on April 26th 1965 and playing the second of two sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall on May 10th is surely the most well-documented fortnight of his career." Clinton Heylin The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry, Feeling, (1941–1966)

Anyone claiming he was elsewhere, for any reason, couldn't have chosen a more untenable time period.

Problem is the dates outwith 24.4.65 - 10.5.65., not to infer anything from that, I'd agree, better all round if initial checks were made to see if there is a viable case there before releasing details to the press remember an abuse case at my work quashed by Big Country being on a European tour when the accuser said she'd seen them with the abuser as a chaperone locally.

That said, I'd still go with the principle that you support the party alleging abuse until the facts are available, say that as a big Dylan fan.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I'm skeptical. He was in California before the UK tour and directly after it returned to Woodstock NY with his pregnant wife-to-be. There were just too many people around him in too many places to plan something like the accusation.

[Hot Pepsi]

It’s tough.
I have no trouble believing rich and powerful men abuse other people. But I also believe that they’re targets of extortion.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Sure. And it's quite possible this woman was abused by someone who claimed to be Bob Dylan. If she was twelve, and her abuser looked more or less like the famous guy she'd probably only seen in photos, then why wouldn't she believe him.

[Hot Pepsi]

That’s a possibility too. I suspect a lot of abused or assaulted people have trouble accurately identifying the assailant, but I have nothing to back that up.

[matt j]

There have been quite a few things I've read/seen (quick google reveals falsely identified: Ronald Cotton, Steve Titus) where eye witnesses are often unreliable, including victims of sexual assault (perhaps unsurprisingly?).

Isolating a traumatic experience to a specific time/date may also be difficult, our memories are funny that way. I know I've overlaid memories of where I broke my collarbone with later experiences skiing in roughly the same location, so couldn't trust myself to say year, how old I was, or where, and that is a lot less than 50 years old and the only drugs I was on were prescribed pain meds.

My sympathy lies heavily with this accuser for now, I hope something is revealed that gives her some closure, but I think that is unlikely.

[Philip Marlow]

Exactly.

"The period between Dylan arriving at London airport on April 26th 1965 and playing the second of two sold out shows at the Royal Albert Hall on May 10th is surely the most well-documented fortnight of his career." Clinton Heylin The Double Life of Bob Dylan: A Restless, Hungry, Feeling, (1941–1966)

Anyone claiming he was elsewhere, for any reason, couldn't have chosen a more untenable time period.

I'd actually pay good money to see Dylan's lawyers go with that as a line of defence.

'It is impossible for our client to have committed these offences as he was copiously documented, not to say filmed, behaving like a swaggering pillock in London at the time they are alleged to have taken place.'