Sumner Redstone, in new court documents, stated he had planned to leave his former girlfriend, Manuela Herzer, $50 million and his Beverly Park mansion when he died — but that four months ago he decided to cut her out of his will.
The disclosure came as Manuela Herzer, 51, fights to prove her claim that the 92-year-old mogul was not competent to drop her as his healthcare proxy last November.
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On Tuesday, Redstone’s legal team filed a new court document that takes direct aim at Herzer’s motives in the legal fight.
“This is a pre-death trust contest dressed up as healthcare litigation. Under the September 2015 plan, Ms. Herzer would have received $50 million and Mr. Redstone’s Beverly Park home, worth roughly $20 million.” The filing continues, “he instead directed that those assets pass to his charitable foundation” upon his death.
Last week, Shari Redstone submitted a court filing stating that her father had given Herzer $70 million in cash and assets just since 2009. The inheritance would have come on top of those previous gifts.
Herzer’s name also is on property records for Redstone’s apartment in the Carlyle Hotel in New York. The documents state that Redstone and Herzer co-own that apartment, although in a side agreement, Herzer acknowledged that the apartment belongs to Redstone as long as he is alive.
Herzer’s attorney Pierce O’Donnell late Tuesday reiterated to THR in a statement that “this case has never been about money” and said Herzer is only trying “to protect her beloved friend from the manipulation and abuse by his caregivers and Shari Redstone.”
He added: “WIth Manuela out of the way and by diverting her bequest to a charity, National Amusements Trust Inc. — and Shari who owns 20 percent–will save hundreds of millions of dollars in gift takes that it is obligated to pay on behalf of Sumner.”
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