Billionaire Sumner Redstone is trying to cut another tie with a former girlfriend who sparked a legal brawl over the media mogul’s mental capacity.
After kicking Manuela Herzer out of his California mansion in 2015, Redstone is now demanding she give up her claim to a $3.75 million co-op apartment in the Carlyle Hotel on East 76th Street in Manhattan.
Redstone’s feud with Herzer led to a battle over control of his $40 billion media empire that ended in August and cost Viacom Inc. Philippe Dauman his job. Herzer alleged the billionaire was mentally incompetent and being manipulated by his daughter. Shortly afterward, Sumner and his daughter Shari kicked Dauman and fellow board member George Abrams off the trust, setting off legal battles in three states. Those have been settled but the the animosity between Redstone and his ex-girlfriends persists.
In Tuesday’s lawsuit, Redstone said that he agreed to buy the co-op apartment from National Amusements, the company that controls his stakes in Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., in December 2014 with the intention of leaving it to Herzer after he died.
He said he and Herzer were listed as joint tenants to avoid probate court proceedings, but he had no intention of giving her the dwelling while he was still alive. Now, he says he doesn’t want her to have it even after he dies. Herzer has refused to give up her rights to the apartment, Redstone said.
‘Hard to Believe’
Ronald Richards, Herzer’s lawyer, said the complaint is a frivolous that’s probably orchestrated by Shari.
"My client was given a notarized recorded grant deed to the property establishing a joint tenancy," Richards said in an e-mail. "This gift, like millions of others given by a previously competent Sumner Redstone, was approved by two doctors and two attorneys and most importantly, Mr. Redstone, prior to having his life and assets stolen from him by others. It is implausible that Sumner Redstone would be knowingly filing lawsuits against his long-term friend and caretaker to recover gifts he had given freely many years ago.”
Herzer lived with Redstone from April 2013 until October 2015, for much of that time along with another girlfriend, Sydney Holland. Redstone threw out Holland in August 2015 after he found out she was having a relationship with another man. Herzer was ejected six weeks later, prompting her to file a court petition to have Redstone declared mentally incapacitated.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
Redstone sued Herzer and Holland in state court in California in October to claw back the millions of dollars he lavished on them, claiming they committed elder abuse.
Herzer sued Shari Redstone, her two sons and members of Redstone’s household staff for interfering with her expected inheritance in May, minutes after a probate court judge dismissed her petition to be reinstated as Redstone’s health-care agent.
Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for Shari Redstone, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking a response to Richards’ comments.
The case is Sumner M. Redstone v. Manuela Herzer, 159840/2016, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).
