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David Thornton, actor and husband of Cyndi Lauper, is facing a civil lawsuit in New York City which is related to allegations of sexual assault against their son Declyn Lauper.
The lawsuit, obtained by ROLLING STONE, was filed by an anonymous Jane Doe who accuses Declyn Lauper of a “brutal sexual assault” in November 2020. This is apparently the same Jane Doe who had already sued Lauper for sexual assault in 2024 – the incidents described in both statements of claim are said to have occurred on November 9, 2020 in an apartment on Thompson Street in New York’s SoHo district. The previous lawsuit against Lauper was scheduled to go to mediation last year, but shortly before the date, Lauper filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The new lawsuit accuses Thornton of “against [Doe] directed, gender-motivated violence” by his son Declyn Lauper. Thornton gave Lauper the apartment where the alleged attack took place “without appropriate supervision or restrictions” – even though he knew about “his son’s previous sexual assaults against women.”
Lawsuit against Thornton
A spokesman for Thornton did not initially respond to ROLLING STONE’s request, nor did Jane Doe’s lawyer.
According to the lawsuit, Declyn Lauper “invited” Doe to the apartment and sent her around $60 for the trip. After her arrival, she and Lauper got into an argument “over a sexual act” that Declyn had demanded of her. Doe then “insisted on leaving the apartment… because she felt unwell.”
Declyn allegedly took Doe’s cell phone to stop her from leaving and threatened to break it “if she didn’t perform oral sex on him.” He then allegedly “pushed Jane Doe onto his bed every time she tried to leave his bedroom.” The third time, Declyn allegedly held her while Doe begged to be let go. He allegedly refused and “forcibly pressed her genitals over Jane Doe’s mouth while Jane Doe warned him she would bite him.”
Doe is said to have “touched his genitals gently with his teeth in an attempt to move him away from him.” Lauper then allegedly shifted his body weight onto Doe’s head and neck and pushed her into bed. He is said to have only let go of her when they both “heard a cracking noise coming from her neck and upper spine.”
Allegations and previous history
Lauper allegedly called Doe a “bitch” and the N-word and “stated that no one would believe him if she ever told what had just happened.” After leaving the apartment, Lauper called her and said “he was sorry for what he had just done to her.” He allegedly tried to contact her several times, but Doe “refused to see him again.”
To support the case against Thornton and his alleged knowledge of his son’s behavior, the lawsuit points out that Lauper’s ex-girlfriend Brittney Taylor – a participant on the show “Love & Hip-Hop: New York” – publicly accused him of domestic violence, physical abuse, false imprisonment and threats to release intimate recordings in 2018. (It is unclear whether Lauper ever responded to these allegations; a lawyer for Lauper did not initially respond to ROLLING STONE’s request.)
The lawsuit also cites two of Lauper’s other run-ins with the law: a 2022 arrest for stealing a car outside a rapper’s memorial service – in which case he ultimately pleaded guilty – and gun and drug charges in 2024 related to a shooting. He also pleaded guilty there and was sentenced earlier this month to a year of temporary probation and addiction treatment.
