Petty’s widow tells her ‘sell-out’ stepdaughter to hold the sauce
TOM PETTY’S widow has accused his “unhinged” daughter of “selling out” with her plans for a range of branded products such as salad dressing, as the battle between the late singer’s family becomes increasingly bitter.
Dana Petty, 54, who married the singer in 2001, accused his eldest daughter Adria, 44, of planning to cash in on his memory.
She claimed in court documents, filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday that Ms Petty, a New York-based director, writer and artist, was “selling out” her father’s legacy. “Adria wanted to authorise Tom’s name and likeness to be used to promote products akin to Paul Newman, whose face adorns bottles of salad dressing and so on,” the court documents state.
“But Tom would never have permitted such a thing, he never ‘sold out’ while he was alive and refused to do any such thing despite numerous opportunities. Dana is certain Tom’s fans would also find it a sad perversion of Tom’s legacy.”
Petty died in 2017, aged 66, from an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping tablets and depression pills. His two daughters from his first marriage, Adria and Annakim, were given equal management votes over his estate with Dana. But relations between the three swiftly deteriorated.
In April Mrs Petty filed a suit in Los Angeles, accusing her stepdaughter of freezing her out of decisions and of “erratic behaviour” which, she claimed, “has made it exceedingly – and increasingly – difficult to carry on business and has threatened the Trust’s business dealings and important relationships”.
TMZ reported that Ms Petty sent hostile emails to members of Petty’s band, the Heartbreakers. “Adria’s foul behaviour has caused enormous damage to many of Tom’s professional relationships,” the lawsuit adds.
The daughters are blocking the release of solo tracks that Petty recorded 25 years ago, TMZ said. Mrs Petty wanted to put them in an anniversary box-set re-release of the album Wildflowers, which would potentially make more than a million dollars in royalties. In the court documents, Mrs Petty includes “abusive” text messages allegedly sent to her by Adria regarding the cover design for the four-cd box set of Petty’s work titled An American Treasure. Ms Petty allegedly texted her stepmother, saying: “You have no compassion for how much this project is my tribute to him. You have allowed me no other way to grieve… you are acting like a jerk in front of my friends and undermining me… You are a very selfish and unkind woman. We can make this legal if you want. Say the word.”
Ms Petty has hit back in court, accusing Mrs Petty of “misappropriating” money from the estate and intellectual property for her own gain – a claim that Mrs Petty strongly denies, claiming her stepdaughter is “unhinged.” Ms Petty is suing Mrs Petty for $5 million (£4million), and also attempting to obtain control of her father’s music catalogue, said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Adam Streisand, Mrs Petty’s lawyer, said that his client “would have done almost anything to avoid all of this”.
He added: “Over the past weeks and months, however, the behaviour of her stepdaughters Adria and Annakim has gone from unconscionable to unhinged – and it needs to be stopped. Tom Petty entrusted his wife Dana to choose how all three women could work together to carry on Tom’s legacy. But Adria and Annakim thought they could bully Dana and cast her aside. In the process, they’ve threatened, maligned and sued the people Tom worked closely with for decades. Her loyalty to her husband and the people he loved and trusted gave her the strength to fight, not only for herself, but for the whole Tom Petty and Heartbreakers family.”
Alex Weingarten, the Petty sisters’ lawyer, said the allegations in Mrs Petty’s new court filing are “completely false”. He described them as an attempt to divert attention from the fact that she has not yet set up a company or an entity to manage Petty’s intellectual property and music catalogue following his death, which as trustee of his estate she is required to do. “Dana and her lawyer are basing their case on smoke and mirrors,” he said. “Every claim they make is demonstrably false.”
‘You are a very selfish and unkind woman. We can make this legal if you want’