Elvis Presley’s wife Priscilla hit with $50 million lawsuit by former business partners alleging fraud

Priscilla Presley’s former business partners are striking back, filing a lawsuit seeking more than $50 million in damages, alleging fraud and breach of contract.

Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko filed the suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming Presley used them to financially exploit her name, image, and likeness while concealing that she had sold those rights decades earlier, according to the Associated Press.

The legal battle comes just over a year after Presley, 80, sued Kruse and Fialko herself, accusing them of elder abuse in a “meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme” aimed to “prey on an older woman by gaining her trust, isolating her from the most important people in her life, and duping her into believing that they would take care of her (personally and financially), while their real goal was to drain her of every last penny she had.”

Kruse and Fialko’s lawyer, Jordan Matthews, fired back in a statement Wednesday: “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.”

The lawsuit details how Kruse, a prominent auctioneer, and Fialko, a successful entrepreneur in Elvis Presley memorabilia, were approached by Presley in 2021 to help rescue her from financial trouble. They claim to have spent thousands of hours enhancing her brand through IP, marketing, and forming multiple companies.

But they allege Presley hid a 2005 deal with Elvis Presley Enterprises, where she had already sold the rights to her name for $6.5 million. When confronted, Presley reportedly denied the deal and later claimed she had forgotten about it.

The suit further alleges Presley attempted to capitalise on the 2023 death of her daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, to bolster her own position in the Elvis estate.

Kruse and Fialko say they brokered a $2.4 million settlement between Presley and Lisa Marie’s daughter, Riley Keough, only for Presley to cut them off, breach contracts, publicly smear them, and later file her own lawsuit.

(With inputs from AP)