Stan Lee has promised to spend “every penny” he has suing those who have falsely claimed his family and associates are mistreating him and raiding his finances.
Earlier this week (end15Apr18) The Hollywood Reporter published alarming allegations that the legendary comic book writer’s daughter Joan Celia ‘J.C.’ Lee and three male associates, Keya Morgan, Jerardo ‘Jerry’ Olivarez and J.C.’s attorney Kirk Schenck, were manipulating him out of his fortune. The expose followed several other reports claiming the 95-year-old had been swindled out of vast sums.
In response, Stan released a video denying he was at odds with J.C., and in a new clip obtained by TMZ.com, he has now threatened legal action over the claims.
The Spider-Man creator called the stories “about my friend Keya and some others”, “totally incorrect” and “based on slander”.
He added: “I’m going to sue your a** off when I get the chance. You have been accusing me and my friends of doing things that are so unrealistic or unbelievable that I don’t know what to say. It’s as though you suddenly have a personal vendetta against me and against the people I work with. Well I want you to know that I’m going to spend every penny I have to put a stop this.”
He also promised to hire the “best and most expensive” lawyers available and head to court unless retractions were published.
Editors at The Hollywood Reporter obtained a legal declaration purportedly signed by Stan in February, shortly before he revealed that he was battling pneumonia. The document, signed in the presence of his then-attorney Tom Lallas, accused his daughter of being a spendthrift who verbally abused him when refused money, and named Morgan, Olivarez and Schenck, as having “bad intentions”.
Their article claimed that J.C. and her father’s relationship had deteriorated since the death of his wife Joan last July, as she was able to control their daughter and that Keya is now controlling the comic book legend’s communications.
Although Stan did not deny signing the declaration, he called its contents “totally incorrect, inaccurate, misleading and insulting” in his first video message.
