Stan Lee: three more accused of elder abuse of Marvel creator
Stan Lee’s daughter is suing her father’s former manager and two other individuals over a “sinister plot” to take financial advantage of him and steal valuable items of memorabilia, and work the Marvel comics creator so hard he could no longer walk or talk.
The lawsuit, filed at Los Angeles superior court on Tuesday on behalf of Joan Celia Lee, levels seven charges of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and elder abuse against Max Anderson, who served as Lee’s manager for his memorabilia business and personal appearances after meeting him at the San Diego Comic Con in 2006.
The suit claims Anderson conspired with one Derek Tan to create a separate company, Excelsior Collectibles, to hide “various undisclosed profits” he’d made from his relationship with Lee. It also claims one of Lee’s nurses, Linda Sanchez, conspired with Anderson “in the removal, taking, secreting, obtaining and retention of many items” from Lee’s home in his final days. All three individuals are accused of elder abuse. Lee died in November, aged 95.
The lawsuit against Anderson, Tan and Sanchez comes just two weeks after Lee’s former business manager, Keya Morgan, was arrested on charges of elder abuse.
The new action describes the details of the case as “akin to those typically found in comic book plots. Unfortunately, this is real life.”
The lawsuit accuses Anderson of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for securing Lee’s presence at events, despite only being promised 10-25%, while Lee himself only received a “token appearance fee”. It further alleges that Anderson made Lee sign documents and agreements that he could not understand or read due to failing eyesight, and that Lee was forced to endure “marathon” signing sessions that left him unable to walk or talk.
Kirk Edward Schenck, attorney for Stan Lee’s estate, warned that “elder abuse is becoming all too common, especially against high net worth individuals who have been highly functioning professionals during very sophisticated careers.”
“This is not just a cautionary tale for the entertainment industry ... this problem is going to continue to proliferate as all ageing baby boomers who have accumulated large estates begin to decline mentally … often in the same time frame they lose trusted love ones who had always been their most faithful allies in issues of love, money and family loyalty.”
The Guardian has contacted Anderson for comment.