Priscilla Presley’s former business partners have added outlandish new claims about the late Elvis Presley to their lawsuit, including allegations that she was responsible for “pushing him to his death.”
In an updated version of a lawsuit that has already claimed Priscilla “pulled the plug” on her own daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, lawyers for Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko called Priscilla a “calculated sociopath” who has “exploited the Presley name.”
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In the most eyebrow-raising claim, the amended lawsuit accuses Priscilla of “extorting millions of dollars from Elvis” during and after their 1972 divorce, including by placing a lien on Graceland — a campaign of “pressure” that Kruse and Fialko claim contributed to the legendary rocker’s 1977 death.
“Priscilla’s first victim was Elvis,” reads the updated complaint, filed Wednesday (Sept. 3) and obtained by Billboard. “Priscilla exerted undue pressure on Elvis, pushing him to his death.”
In a response statement to Billboard on Friday, Priscilla’s attorney, Marty Singer, said the new allegations about Elvis were “absurd and despicable, but unfortunately, are not surprising.”
“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,” Singer said. “Take off the aluminum foil hat and face reality.”
The new allegations mark the latest escalation in a two-year legal battle for Priscilla and her ex-partners that has grown increasingly acrimonious as it has dragged on.
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Kruse first sued in October 2023, claiming Priscilla had abruptly cut off ties after the advisor worked “tirelessly” to help the nearly-insolvent star “dig herself out of impending financial ruin.” Priscilla fired back in 2024, accusing Kruse, Fialko and two other advisors of elder abuse, claiming they fraudulently took over her life and then stole her money.
Then last month, Kruse and Fialko went nuclear. In a countersuit, they claimed Presley “ignored” warning signs just before Lisa Marie suffered cardiac arrest in January 2023 and then removed her from life support against her wishes. They claimed she did it so fast that Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, was unable to get to the hospital before her mother died.
Presley’s lawyers sharply denied those allegations at the time, calling them a “disgusting publicity stunt” and “malicious character assassination.”
The new amended lawsuit this week also included an alleged email from Keough to Presley, purportedly sent amid the legal battle that erupted between the two in the wake of Lisa Marie’s death. In it, Keough said it was “really hurtful” that her grandmother had taken her to court, and sharply criticized her actions surrounding the estate.
“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,” Keough allegedly wrote in the email. “It was very upsetting that I was forced to find a lawyer to represent me and my sisters and my mother’s wishes within days of her passing.”
Reps for Keough did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday (Sept. 5). In his statement, Singer characterized the new allegations as an effort to distract from Presley’s original accusations against Kruse and others.
“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,” he said. “Ms. Presley looks forward to holding Ms. Kruse and her co-conspirators liable for their wrongful acts.”
