Priscilla Presley Fires Back as Lawsuit Accuses Her of Letting Lisa Marie Die
Sage Matthews here, awake at 2 AM, squinting at a blinking headline and muttering, “Of course this happened.” If you wanted proof the celebrity world will always find new ways to make grief uglier, welcome to this week.
Priscilla Presley is being sued by former associates who claim she deliberately let her daughter Lisa Marie Presley die so she could seize control of Graceland and the estate. According to the complaint filed Wednesday, the plaintiffs, Michael Kruse and Jonathan Fialko, allege Priscilla knew Lisa Marie was preparing to remove her from a trust and that Priscilla took advantage of Lisa Marie while she was hospitalized. The allegation that Priscilla “pulled the plug” on her daughter is the loudest and most grotesque line of this suit, and it has predictably ignited fury, denials, and legal counterpunches.
Enter Marty Singer, Priscilla’s hard‑charging attorney, who did not tiptoe around the accusation. Singer told TMZ the lawsuit is “one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious and meritless things” he has seen, calling the filing “nothing more than a sad and vicious attempt to falsely tarnish the reputation of an eighty‑year‑old woman.” He also labeled the complaint a “disgusting publicity stunt” and said the claims are “fabricated” with “absolutely no validity.” Singer argued this is blatant retaliation, pointing out Priscilla’s own July 2024 lawsuit against Kruse and Fialko for alleged financial elder abuse and more than a million dollars taken from her, a case that frames the present complaint as a counterattack rather than a blow struck in good faith.
As if the family drama needed more spectacle, Singer invoked Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, saying Riley stands “behind her grandmother 100% and is equally disgusted with this latest, vicious attempt by Kruse to attempt to ruin her grandmother’s life.” That public show of solidarity between granddaughter and matriarch is meant to do two things: shore up Priscilla’s public image and signal to courts and the media that the accusations lack the support of the immediate Presley family.
Still, read the filings and watch the coverage and you see why everyone is exhausted. On paper this looks like the now‑classic Hollywood playbook: estranged associates claim wrongdoing when the money runs out, the accused attorney blasts the suit as meritless, family members circle the wagons, and the legal process slowly drags the story into dust. The complaint accuses Priscilla of premeditated conduct at a time of medical crisis. Singer calls that “malicious character assassination” and says the case will be dismissed. Kruse and Fialko, for their part, have already cycled through multiple attorneys, a fact Singer highlighted to suggest desperation rather than credible legal strategy.
This is not just tabloid bait. It folds into a broader, sadder pattern: disputes over trusts, elder abuse claims, and sensational accusations of criminality against aging public figures. The former business partners allege financial and ethical exploitation, while Priscilla’s camp says the suit is retaliation after she sued them for stealing from her. Both sides have put explosive statements in public filings and spokespeople have escalated rhetoric instead of cooling it.
So what now? Expect motions, discovery fights, and troves of documents to leak like slow rot. Lawsuits that trade in character assassination and family grief rarely resolve quickly or quietly. Courts will have to sort the paper trail from the posturing and the public will keep scrolling through every salacious paragraph like it’s a train wreck we cannot look away from.
At the very least, this episode reminds us that fame, money, and legacy are combustible together. At worst, it uses a dead woman as the stage for a vicious legal duel.
Anyway, can’t wait to see how this gets worse.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Statements from Marty Singer (via TMZ)
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
