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Priscilla Presley is fighting back against accusations that she pushed her husband, Elvis Presley, to his death.
On Friday, Priscilla’s former business partners, Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko, amended their $50 million lawsuit against Priscilla, alleging that she was involved in Elvis’ death.
In the amended lawsuit obtained by Fox News Digital, Kruse and Fialko allege Priscilla wasn’t happy with her divorce settlement from Elvis.
Priscilla moved into Graceland to live with Elvis in May 1963, with the couple tying the knot a few years later in May 1967. (Getty Images)
“Despite enriching herself and extorting millions of dollars from Elvis, she then placed a lien on Graceland on or around April 29, 1977, in the amount of $494,024.49, adding pressure to Elvis less than four months before he died,” the lawsuit stated.
PRISCILLA PRESLEY WISHES SHE ‘COULD HOLD’ LISA MARIE PRESLEY AGAIN 2 YEARS AFTER HER DEATH
Kruse and Fialko alleged that this “exerted undue pressure” on Elvis and pushed “him to his death.”
Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley in 1970. (Oscar Abolafia/TPLP/Getty Images)
In response to the lawsuit, Priscilla’s attorney, Marty Singer, said, “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.”
“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,” Singer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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Kruse and Fialko’s lawyer, Jordan Matthews of Holtz Matthews LLP, shared a response to Singer’s statement with People magazine.
“Apparently, Ms. Presley’s defense is to list off nonsense hyperbolic statements that have no substance. The documents are in black and white and speak volumes. To date, Ms. Presley has presented zero evidence in support of her salacious claims, and we intend to hold her accountable for her reckless behavior,” he told the outlet.
Kruse and Fialko alleged that Priscilla is a “calculated sociopath and master of deception, who has lived off of and exploited the ‘Presley’ name for her own personal gain.”
They also compared Priscilla to a “pit viper willing to prey on her own family.”
Priscilla Presley and her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, and her granddaughter, Riley Keough. (Eric Charbonneau)
The $50 million lawsuit was initially filed in August, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Kruse and Fialko filed the lawsuit, and among many other allegations, they said Presley used them to financially exploit her name, image and likeness, hiding the fact that she had sold those rights decades earlier.
The lawsuit also alleged the 80-year-old widow of Elvis made a calculated move in the final hours of Lisa Marie’s life, accusing her of allegedly pulling her daughter off life support against her wishes.
Instead of honoring Lisa Marie’s medical direction to “prolong her life,” the lawsuit claimed Priscilla saw a window to regain control of the Presley estate, especially with Lisa Marie reportedly in the process of removing her as trustee of a multimillion-dollar trust.
“Priscilla rushed to West Hills Hospital, and despite Lisa’s clear directive to ‘prolong her life,’ Priscilla pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted,” the lawsuit stated, adding that Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter and heir, had not yet arrived.
Lisa Marie Presley died on Jan. 12, 2023, at the age of 54. (Christopher Polk)
At the time, Priscilla’s high-profile attorney, Marty Singer, blasted the lawsuit as “shameful” and “salacious,” and told Fox News Digital the accusations are “malicious character assassination.”
“Accusing a grieving mother of contributing to her daughter’s death is not savvy advocacy – it’s disgusting,” Singer said.
In the amended complaint, they included alleged messages between Priscilla and her granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough. Following Lisa Marie’s death, Riley inherited her mother’s estate and became the substantial owner of the Elvis Presley Graceland Estate.
Riley Keough called getting messages from lawyers immediately after her mother’s death “incredibly heartbreaking,” according to a lawsuit. (David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
According to the lawsuit, Riley emailed Priscilla on Jan. 31, 2023 and said that she stopped Lisa Marie from suing her just weeks before her death. The lawsuit states that Keough intervened and stopped Lisa Marie from taking legal action against her mother.
Priscilla then allegedly called Riley.
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“I must also share with you that I found being called about the will, less than 24 hours after my mother passed and getting emails from lawyers before my mother was even buried incredibly heartbreaking,” Riley allegedly told Priscilla, according to the document.
Riley Keough inherited Lisa Marie Presley’s estate and has the majority ownership of the Elvis Presley Graceland Estate. (Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
She continued, “But what I don’t understand is why there is a narrative that this massive falling out between you and my mother in 2016 didn’t occur. My mother very loudly and clearly asserted to many people, including you, that she felt you had financially and personally betrayed her and as a result she was taking you off of the trust and replacing you with my brother and me.”
Meanwhile, Priscilla’s own lawsuit against her former business partners, filed last year, paints a very different picture.
She claimed Kruse and Fialko isolated her from longtime advisors, took over her bank accounts and tricked her into signing 20-plus contracts in under 30 minutes – including ones that gave them majority control over her own name and likeness.
“If plaintiff’s allegations are true… it’s classic elder abuse,” one judge ruled in an earlier case.
But Kruse and Fialko argued the elder abuse narrative is a lie, a legal weapon used by Priscilla and Morgan to silence and erase their contractual claims. They want the court to order Presley to stop profiting off her NIL outside the companies they formed – and pay more than $50 million in damages.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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