Ex-business partners allege a power grab and reputation sabotage — Presley’s lawyer calls it “shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless.”
Priscilla Presley’s legal battles just got messier. Former business partners Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko have filed a lawsuit claiming the 80-year-old allegedly pulled her daughter Lisa Marie off life support shortly after she was hospitalised in January 2023.
According to the suit, the move was part of a bigger scheme to regain control of Elvis Presley’s estate, “control the narrative,” and cut Kruse and Fialko out of the business picture.
The pair are now seeking more than $50 million in damages, also accusing Priscilla and an associate of making “false allegations of elder abuse” to damage their reputations.
Priscilla’s attorney, Martin D. Singer, fired back, calling the lawsuit “one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless lawsuits I have seen in my practice.” He added, “Accusing a grieving mother of contributing to her daughter’s death is not savvy advocacy; it is malicious character assassination, and should be broadly condemned.”
Singer also said Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, “stands behind her grandmother 100 percent” and is “disgusted” by the claims. Keough’s reps didn’t respond to Entertainment Weekly’s request for comment.
Kruse and Fialko’s attorney, Jordan Matthews, shot back, saying they’ve got “video recordings and communications” proving “absolutely no evidence of undue influence, coercion, or elder abuse” — just “a legitimate, well-documented business partnership.”
The fallout stems from an October 2023 contract dispute, with Kruse alleging Presley cut ties after they helped revive her brand — work they say fed into Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, without credit.
Lisa Marie died January 12, 2023, from complications linked to a past surgery.
