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Priscilla Presley “has a history of manipulating those closest to her for her own personal gain,” her former partners claim, according to legal documents obtained by Globe.
“Priscilla’s first victim was Elvis,” reads an amended complaint to Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko’s bombshell $50 million lawsuit against her, which was filed on Wednesday, September 30.
Kruse and Fialko allege that a year after their 1972 divorce, Priscilla, 80, “forced” Elvis to renegotiate the terms of their marital dissolution agreement “out of pure greed.”
In addition to “enriching herself and extorting millions of dollars” from the King of Rock and Roll, his “ruthless and cunning” ex-wife then “placed a lien on Graceland on or around April 29, 1977, in the amount of $494,024.49.”
Her actions, they claim, added “pressure to Elvis less than four months before he died on August 16, 1977, from a heart attack and drug complications. Priscilla exerted undue pressure on Elvis, pushing him to his death.”
The music icon, who was just 42 when he passed, did not mention Priscilla — to whom he was married for only six years — in his will. Their daughter, Lisa Marie was his sole heir, and his father, Vernon, was named as trustee.
“Priscilla knew she was entitled to inherit nothing from Elvis,” Kruse and Fialko allege, so she “used the lien she placed on Graceland, strong-arming Vernon, who was on his death bed in 1979, and was otherwise weak and unable to defend the estate, into making Priscilla the co-executor of the estate, taking over management of the trust.”
The lawsuit, which calls the Naked Gun actress a “calculated sociopath and master of deception,” accuses her of similarly manipulating her daughter.
When Lisa Marie was rushed to the hospital in 2023, Kruse and Fialko allege, Priscilla “pulling” her daughter, 54, off life support in an attempt to regain control of the estate.
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As Globe previously reported, Priscilla then launched a legal challenge, contesting the “authenticity and validity” of a 2016 amendment Lisa Marie made to remove her and appointed Riley Keough and her late brother, Ben, trustees instead.
Keough and her grandmother eventually reached a settlement, with Priscilla getting a $1 million lump sum, as well as $100,000 a year to be a special advisor to Keough. (Priscilla’s son, Navarone Garcia, also allegedly got a “seven-figure” piece of the trust, despite not being related to Elvis.)
In a statement regarding claims made in the lawsuit, Priscilla’s lawyer, Martin D. Singer, previously told Globe:
“Priscilla did not have anything to do with the assassination of JFK, she did not cover up Area 51, she did not fake the moon landing, and she is not secretly keeping Bigfoot locked in a cabin in Canada. Take off the aluminum foil hat and face reality. This lawsuit concerns Ms. Presley’s claims against Ms. Kruse (and her co-conspirators) in which she alleges that Ms. Kruse engaged in a relentless and calculated campaign of elder abuse and fraud in order to take control of Ms. Presley’s finances for her own benefit. Ms. Kruse’s allegations are absurd and despicable, but unfortunately, are not surprising. Ms. Presley looks forward to holding Ms. Kruse and her co-conspirators liable for their wrongful acts.”