A COMIC CON
Marvel’s Lee: Biz guy robbed me, stole my blood
MARVEL CREATOR Stan Lee is suing his ex-business manager for millions, claiming the man is a villain who raided his coffers and tried to sell his blood to groupies in Las Vegas.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles, Lee claims Jerardo Olivarez bought an $850,000 condo with misappropriated funds and likely wrote himself a forged check for $300,000 without permission.
The comic book legend, 95, also claims Olivarez had a nurse extract his blood with a syringe to sell it as macabre memorabilia.
The blood was turned into a “merchandising item” as part of a “diabolical and ghoulish scheme,” the suit obtained by the Daily News states.
The 15-page complaint was filed by Lee’s lawyer Jonathan Freund with the help of Lee’s new gatekeeper, Keya Morgan, who spoke to The News on Friday.
“He’s obviously a blood sucker, literally,” Morgan said of Olivarez. “To take blood from a guy and start selling it — it’s a despicable low. It’s gross and disgusting and an abomination.”
Morgan said he personally discovered the alleged theft by Olivarez and called police before they filed the suit.
“I’m with (Lee) now, and he’s very well, very happy. He’s eating his lunch. Now everything is getting back to normal. He’s safe and secure,” Morgan said.
With an estimated worth of more than $50 million, Lee (photo) has been the subject of a swirl of recent reports claiming people are jockeying for control of his estate. Lee helmed Marvel Comics in the 1960s and co-created an army of iconic heroes, including Spider-Man, Black Panther and The Hulk. Morgan, meanwhile, is a former memorabilia dealer who help produce John Travolta’s “Gotti” movie and said he’s also directing a film about Marilyn Monroe. Attempts to reach Olivarez were not immediately successful Friday, but he told The Hollywood Reporter he had a good relationship with Lee, especially after the death of Lee’s wife last July. “Mr. Lee told me I had given him a new lease on life after Mrs. Lee’s passing,” Olivarez told THR. “I had looked out for him during recent contract negotiations with (an entertainment company). He gave me a check as a thank-you.”
Olivarez said Lee’s name was on the title of the $850,000 condo and claimed Lee told him to buy it so he would have “a secure building where he thought I’d be safe.” Morgan scoffed at such claims. “I’m the one who personally found the check, and Lee said he didn’t write it,” Morgan told The News.
“I called the police and the FBI and Adult Protective Services and brought in guards and law enforcement,” Morgan said.
“(Lee) had some bad ties, and now he’s suing those people. Right now, he has armed guards, nurses, doctors, lawyers, the FBI and the LAPD — with myself spearheading it all. And I’ve never received a penny. He’s my mentor and idol. He’s the Walt Disney of our time.”