This story just keeps getting weirder, from (false?) allegations of misconduct and mismanagement from Stan's own family and business partners, to people stealing and selling the comic-book great's blood. Now, some lawsuits are flying.
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter published some allegations that Stan Lee's daughter, Joan Celia Lee in concert with Keya Morgan, Jerardo Olivarez and attorney Kirk Schenck, were screwing him out of his fortune, from forged checks and signatures to misappropriation of funds and shady business deals. Stan Lee came out swinging in the video below, claiming that there is no issue with his daughter, and that he's gonna sue the pants off of anyone who claims otherwise.
After saying that the allegations against “[his] friend Keya and some others,” were “totally incorrect” and “based on slander,” Stan is now suing Jerardo Olivarez, for that very thing. In the suit, filed last Friday, claims that Olivarez, after the 2017 death of Lee’s wife, Joan B. Lee, took control of Lee’s financial affairs and used the opportunity to line his own pockets, in addition to firing Lee’s banker of 46 years, and his long term attorney, and transferred $4.6 million of Lee's cash to himself. The suit also states that Olivarez "convinced" Lee to sign over power of attorney to Olivarez, with Olivarez’s lawyer Uri Litvak taking over as Lee’s as well. Not sure how you can sue someone for convincing you to do something, but I assume it has something to do with an elderly abuse law. The suit also states that Olivarez used the non-profit Hands of Respect as a front for thievery, having Lee donate 300,000 dollars to the non-profit without consent.
This is messed up in a bunch of ways; my own grandma is 96 and starting to slip. It would be pretty easy to get her to sign something she wasn't 100% sure of, and people that take advantage of the elderly should burn in a fiery inferno. I'll keep you updated on this story as it progresses.
