Priscilla Presley has responded to a lawsuit which has accused her of pulling the plug on her daughter's life support prematurely.
The ex-actress was slapped with the bombshell $50 million lawsuit this week, which claimed that she 'ultimately wanted to control' the late Lisa Marie's trust at the Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee.
Priscilla, 80, was married to Elvis Presley for six years, with court documents claiming that she wanted power over the family name, years on from the King of Rock 'n' Roll's passing.
The pair shared just one daughter, Lisa Marie, who died at the age of 54 in 2023 from a full cardiac arrest.
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The legal claim was filed in a Los Angeles superior court by her former business partners in Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, who are seeking at least $50 million in damages.
Kruse and Fialko head up Priscilla Presley Partners, and are suing on grounds of fraud and breach of contract.
The pair claim that Priscilla knew that her daughter Lisa Marie was the sole heir to the estate, and that she 'pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted' into hospital in January 2023.
She would describe her daughter as 'the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known'.
The legal claim, though, states that Priscilla said just a week after the death: "I’m the queen. I’m in charge of Graceland."
It also detailed that she was supposed to stop using the 'Presley' surname following her split form Elvis in 1973.
Now, Priscilla's team have responded to the claims made against her.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Priscilla's attorney Marty Singer stated: "This is, without a doubt, one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless lawsuits I have seen in my practice.
"This is nothing more than a sad and vicious attempt to falsely tarnish the reputation of an eighty-year-old woman in blatant retaliation for bringing a lawsuit to redress the wrongful conduct of Brigitte Kruse, Kevin Fialko, and their co-conspirators.
"Kruse and her co-conspirators are now on their fourth different set of lawyers in this dispute, and this is a disgusting publicity stunt by new counsel, as evidenced by the fact that the complaint and press release were sent to the press before the complaint was served," he claimed.
He called the lawsuit 'malicious character assassination' in relation to the accusation that a 'grieving mother' would contribute to her daughter's death.
Singer added: "Our client, Priscilla Presley filed a complaint over a year ago in which she alleges that she was the victim of a concerted effort by Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko (among others) to isolate her from her trusted advisors and dupe her into signing a series of agreements in which Kruse contends she gave them a majority interest in Presley’s own name, image, and likeness, in perpetuity, and that purportedly required Presley to get their permission before even accepting any offer of employment or otherwise.
"In an order on one of a series of motions that Kruse filed (and lost, one after the other) in a desperate effort to avoid facing responsibility for her actions, the Court found that, “if plaintiff’s allegations are true…it is classic elder abuse," he claimed.
Singer then mentioned a number of defeats they faced in both California and Florida, adding: "It will not work. It is also evident that Kruse, Fialko and her new 4th set of attorneys are not happy with the rulings this past year by the judge handling the existing case against Kruse and Fialko by going forum shopping to try and go before a different judge."
The statement also claimed that Riley Keough stands by her grandmother '100 percent'.
Topics: Celebrity News, Entertainment
Joshua Nair