Court Documents: MoMA Appeal in Bonafede Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

This page hosts court records filed in connection with John Bonafede v. Museum of Modern Art, a New York State Supreme Court case stemming from allegations of repeated sexual abuse during the 2010 Marina Abramovic exhibition "The Artist Is Present."

The document published here is MoMA’s Notice of Appeal, filed on January 14, 2026, which formally initiates the museum’s appeal of a lower court's ruling that allowed Bonafede’s lawsuit to proceed.

In the notice, MoMA seeks reversal of a December 11, 2025, order by Justice James E. d’Auguste that denied the museum’s motion to dismiss Bonafede’s first amended complaint. That ruling kept the case alive and cleared the way for discovery.

Read the story: MoMA appeals ruling keeping Marina Abramović nude performer's sex abuse suit alive

MoMA appeals ruling keeping nude performer’s sex abuse suit alive

John Bonafede performed nude in MoMA’s staging of Abramović’s Imponderabilia in 2010.

Urgent MatterAdam Schrader