15 Sep PRISCILLA PRESLEY SUED FOR “PULLING THE PLUG” ON DAUGHTER, LISA MARIE, TO CONTROL GRACELAND
Priscilla Presley has been accused of not honoring the living will of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley – Elvis Presley’s only child, so that she could control Graceland which is owned by the family trust. Lisa Marie’s living will (directive) stated that she wanted her life “to be prolonged as long as possible”. However, Priscilla’s former business partners, Brigette Kruse and Kevin Fialko, who were hired by Priscilla to restore her brand and N.I.L (name, image & likeness) in 2022 under the name Priscilla Presley Partners, have accused Priscilla of “pulling the plug” quickly (within hours of Lisa Marie being admitted to the hospital) so that Lisa Marie wouldn’t remove her from being a trustee of the family trust which owns Graceland.
The allegation was part of a lawsuit seeking at least $50 million in damages from Priscilla for their work helping with her financial and legal affairs and pursuit of restoring her brand and N.I.L (which was licensed to Priscilla Presley Partners). The suit accused Priscilla of fraud. Priscilla fired them in November 2023.
Previously Priscilla had sued Kruse and Fialko for elder abuse (she is now 80) by coercing her to sign agreements with them and to sign a power of attorney where they controlled her accounts (powers of attorney usually only give the agent authority to act, but the principal, Priscilla, should have retained authority also). Recently, Priscilla released a new “tell-all” book entitled “Softly, As I Leave You”. The book mentions her broken relationship with Lisa Marie, which may have started as a result of Priscilla’s disapproval of Lisa Marie’s relationship with Michael Jackson. Her book also mentioned that when she saw Lisa Marie in her hospital room hooked up to a breathing machine, Lisa Marie had little brain activity. She told the doctor to take Lisa Marie off the breathing machine as she didn’t want Lisa Marie to be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life.
Lisa Marie died in 2023 of a strangulated small bowel caused by adhesions that developed after bariatric surgery years before resulting in a heart attack. Prior to her death, Lisa Marie was not happy with the financial performance of the family trust, the Promenade Trust (which owns Graceland), in which Priscilla was a trustee. Lisa Marie removed the trustees and named her daughter, Riley Keough, and son, Benjamin Keough (who has died) as trustees but apparently failed to give proper notice of removal as required under the terms of trust. The amendment was made in 2016. The assumption in the lawsuit is that Priscilla was aware that she was going to be removed as trustee so she “pulled the plug” to remain as trustee of the Promenade Trust and control of Graceland.
After Lisa Marie died, there was a well-publicized dispute between Priscilla and her granddaughter, Riley, on who should be trustee of the trust. Kruse and Fialko stated they helped broker the deal whereby Priscilla received $2.4 million in exchange for Riley being trustee of the trust.
The Promenade Trust owns Graceland and gets 15% of the Elvis Presley brand income from Elvis Presley Enterprises, which generates over $100 million of revenue annually.
A case management conference in connection with this suit has been set for February 2026.
Perhaps all should remember the words of Elvis, “Don’t be cruel”.
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