Names and faces
The private struggle over the care and legacy of Marvel mastermind Stan Lee played out in public Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom as attorneys working with his daughter shoved aside a previous lawyer and reasserted that they represent the 95-year-old Lee. They were granted an elder-abuse restraining order against a former manager of Lee, just as the previous attorney had done, but only after a judge heard arguments about who should speak for Lee. In the courtroom packed with current and former attorneys and associates of Lee, lawyer Tom Lallas asked for a 30-day extension of the temporary restraining order he had received against Lee’s former manager, Keya Morgan. Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Ruth Kleman refused to consider the motion, saying it appeared Lallas was not employed by Lee. “I’m only concerned who has authority to represent Mr. Lee,” Kleman said. Attorneys working with Lee’s daughter, J.C. Lee, had provided a signed declaration from Stan Lee denouncing Lallas. The new restraining order against Morgan, 42, a movie producer who had worked as Lee’s manager and personal adviser, demands that he keep away from Lee, Lee’s daughter and Lee’s brother. The request for the order alleges that Morgan has attempted to interfere with Lee’s ability to contact caregivers, doctors and family members, has attempted to alienate Lee from his daughter, and is embezzling or misappropriating $5 million worth of Lee’s assets.
Globe-trotting chef, author and TV host Anthony Bourdain was worth $1.2 million when he died last month and left most of the estate to his 11-year-old daughter, according to court papers filed in New York. Bourdain’s will and related papers show assets including $425,000 in cash and savings, $250,000 in personal property, $500,000 in intangibles like royalties and residuals, and $35,000 in a brokerage account. The documents also list a $1.1 million mortgage. The 61-year-old Bourdain was found dead June 8 in an apparent suicide in his hotel room in Kaysersberg, France, an ancient village where he was working on his CNN series Parts Unknown. Bourdain wrote his last will and testament in December 2016 and named wife, Ottavia Busia-Bourdain, as executor. By that time, the two had already announced they were separated but said they were still friends. The court will appoint a guardian ad litem to represent their daughter Ariane’s interests because she’s a minor. Bourdain’s will instructs Busia-Bourdain to dispose of his “accumulated frequent flier miles” and other possessions like cars, furnishings and jewelry in a way she believes he would’ve wanted.