Sexual Abuse Case Against Interscope Co-Founder Jimmy Iovine Dropped by Plaintiff
The unnamed woman who filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine in November has dropped the case, according to a document filed in New York court on Thursday (Feb. 15).
The case has been “discontinued in its entirety with prejudice,” meaning the woman cannot refile. Representatives for Iovine and his accuser did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.
On Nov. 22, a summons with notice was filed ahead of a complete lawsuit by the woman’s attorneys, Douglas Widgor and Meredith Firetog of Wigdor Law. In it, the Jane Doe plaintiff accused Iovine of “multiple instances” of abuse, including a specific incident of sexual misconduct that occurred in New York in 2007. According to public court records reviewed by Billboard, the full lawsuit was never filed.
The summons — which effectively extended the deadline to submit a complete lawsuit — was filed just ahead of the Nov. 23 expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year window for alleged survivors to take legal action over years-old accusations that would typically be barred under the statute of limitations. It came amid a flurry of similar lawsuits aimed at music industry giants including L.A. Reid, Axl Rose and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Originally a recording engineer, Iovine co-founded Interscope Records with Ted Field in 1990 and went on to launch such stars as No Doubt, 2Pac, Eminem, Beck and Lady Gaga. He later became chairman/CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M and co-founded Beats Electronics and Beats Music with Dr. Dre, which were acquired by Apple in 2014 for a combined $3 billion. Iovine served as a creative consultant for Apple Music until August 2018.
Chris Eggertsen
Billboard
