by Camila Curcio | Aug 14, 2025

Priscilla Presley is facing a new $50 million legal battle in California, deepening a dispute with former business partners that began more than a year ago and adding explosive new allegations. On Monday, memorabilia dealer Brigitte Kruse and investor Kevin Fialko filed a fraud and breach of contract complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court, expanding on earlier claims while introducing a sensational accusation: that Presley played a role in hastening the death of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, in January 2023 for financial gain.

The filing comes just weeks after a Florida judge ruled that Presley’s 2024 elder financial abuse lawsuit against Kruse and Fialko would take precedence over their original 2023 breach of contract case. That earlier action was put on hold, with the court citing unresolved questions over the validity of the business agreements at the heart of the dispute.

In their new complaint, Kruse and Fialko repeat many of the earlier claims but go further, alleging that when Lisa Marie was hospitalized in January 2023 for a small bowel obstruction, a complication from prior weight loss surgery, Priscilla overrode her daughter’s documented wishes for continued life support. They point to Lisa Marie’s advanced health care directive, attached as an exhibit, in which she had marked her initials and two exclamation points next to a clause requesting her life be prolonged “as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted healthcare standards.”

According to the lawsuit, Priscilla “pulled the plug within hours” of Lisa Marie’s admission to West Hills Hospital, before her granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, could arrive. The plaintiffs allege Presley then pushed for a public statement announcing Lisa Marie’s death, motivated by an intent to secure control over the Promenade Trust and Graceland by eliminating her daughter’s efforts to remove her as sole trustee.

Priscilla’s attorney, Marty Singer, issued a forceful denial, calling the lawsuit “one of the most shameful, ridiculous, salacious, and meritless lawsuits I have seen in my practice.” In a statement to Rolling Stone, Singer condemned the allegations as “malicious character assassination” and predicted the case would be dismissed. He characterized the complaint as a “sad and vicious attempt to falsely tarnish the reputation of an eighty-year-old woman” in retaliation for Presley’s own legal action against Kruse and Fialko.

The business dispute dates back to ventures the three launched to monetize Presley’s name, image, and likeness. Kruse and Fialko allege they invested heavily to rescue Presley from financial distress, only to have her abandon the projects in breach of their agreements after Lisa Marie’s death. They contend Presley’s change in circumstances, including a favorable settlement with Keough, left her unwilling to honor their contracts.

Following Lisa Marie’s death, Presley contested a 2016 amendment to her daughter’s Promenade Trust that had replaced her as trustee with Keough. That trust controls significant assets, including Graceland, its archives, and a 15 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises. The dispute was resolved within months, with Keough agreeing to pay Presley a $1 million lump sum from Lisa Marie’s $25 million life insurance policy, $50,000 for her resignation as co-trustee of a related irrevocable trust, and a $100,000 annual salary for 10 years as a “special advisor.”

In July 2024, Presley filed her own lawsuit in California, accusing Kruse and Fialko of financial elder abuse. She alleged they manipulated her into signing contracts that gave Kruse a 51 percent controlling interest in her intellectual property in perpetuity, and another deal limiting her to only a 20 percent stake in a separate venture. Presley’s legal team argued the agreements were so one-sided as to be unenforceable.

Kruse and Fialko, through their attorney Jordan Matthews, say they are determined to litigate the matter fully. “They want the truth out, and they want to be vindicated,” Matthews said. As part of their defense, the pair have presented video footage showing Presley signing the disputed contracts in Kruse’s home with legal counsel present, which they argue proves she understood the terms.

The new lawsuit also names Keya Morgan, the former manager of the late Stan Lee, as a defendant, accusing him of interfering with their contractual relationships with Presley. In his statement to Rolling Stone, Morgan defended Presley, calling her “an incredible human being” and dismissing the allegations against her as “malicious lies.”

Priscilla Presley’s former business partners have filed a lawsuit seeking more than $50 million in damages, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko filed the lawsuit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, per the AP . Among many other allegations, they say Presley used them to financially exploit her name, image, and likeness, hiding the fact that she had sold those rights decades earlier. The lawsuit comes just over a year after Presley, the 80-year-old former wife of Elvis Presley, sued Kruse and Fialko, alleging they engaged in elder abuse in an effort “to drain her of every last penny she had.”

Kruse and Fialko’s lawyer, Jordan Matthews, said in a statement Wednesday that the “evidence will establish that the real victims here are my clients, who invested millions and years of hard work into revitalizing Priscilla Presley’s brand, only to be betrayed and falsely accused once the money was on the table and every personal and business issue had been resolved.” Kruse and Fialko’s lawsuit says Kruse is a well-known auctioneer and Fialko a successful entrepreneur, both of whom dealt in Elvis Presley memorabilia. The duo previously sued Priscilla Presley in Florida.

They say she approached them in 2021 looking for help to save her from financial ruin, which they spent thousands of hours working to do. They say they formed several companies to exploit her name, image, and likeness, while Presley hid from them that she had sold the rights to license her name as part of a $6.5 million deal with Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2005. The lawsuit says that when confronted about the previous agreement, Presley repeatedly denied making it, and later said she had forgotten about it.

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The lawsuit also alleges Presley sought to take advantage of the 2023 death of her daughter and Elvis Presley’s heir, Lisa Marie Presley, to aggrandize herself and regain a stake in the Presley estate. Kruse and Fialko say they brokered a 2023 deal to end a legal fight over the estate between Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, actor Riley Keough, getting Priscilla Presley $2.4 million. But the lawsuit says she cut them off in violation of contracts soon after, publicly smeared them, and then sued them.