Sumner Redstone is Suing two former lovers of his, Manuela Herzer and Sydney Holland, for $150 million. The media titan who heads Viacom claims that the two vixens somehow conned him out of gifts which were valued at a total of that much money.
So Sumner Redstone thinks that he can still wield power over one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, Viacom, and at the same time is spry enough to handle multiple much younger women on the side — and all of this while in his 90s — but somehow these women were able to take advantage of him.
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Can he have it both ways? No! If he is so vulnerable to feminine charms then why should Viacom stock holders trust them with their company?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Redstone attorney Robert Klieger said that Herzer and Holland, “manipulated and emotionally abused Redstone to get what they wanted — jewelry, designer clothing, real estate in Beverly Hills, New York, and Paris, and money, lots of it. By the time Redstone threw Herzer and Holland out of his home, and out of his life, last fall, they had taken him for more than $150 million and left him in debt on account of the immense tax obligations triggered by those ‘gifts.'”
And apparently since these gifts were way above the $14, 000 limit for tax free gifts set per recipient, Sumner Redstone was left with a pretty big tax bill to cover. The government charges up to 40% in taxes on the giver as a way to prevent people from getting around estate taxes. So if Redstone gave the two women a total of $100 million in gifts he could have been required to pay as much as $40 million to Uncle Same in addition.
Sumner Redstone’s lawyers claim that he needed to sell Viacom stock in order to cover the tax bill. And the suit accuses the two women of “elder abuse.” Really? Where was Redstone’s family when all this supposedly happened?
Manuela Herzer’s attorney Ronald Richards released a statement saying, “All of the gifts Mr. Redstone made to my client and to Sydney Holland were made with his full knowledge and blessing. Mr. Redstone continues to be victimized by his daughter and her surrogates. Hopefully, in defense of this lawsuit, his true state of mind will finally come to light.”
Sydney Holland’s camp released its own statement saying, “The fact is, Mr. Redstone’s attorneys and doctors vetted and approved all payments to Ms. Holland. It is sad that Ms. Redstone is using her vendetta against Ms. Holland to destroy her father’s reputation and legacy as an entertainment industry visionary. Ms. Holland does not believe the claims in this lawsuit are Mr. Redstone’s sentiments, but rather are those of Shari Redstone.”
So does this suit from Sumner Redstone have any merit or will it be thrown out of court? Who knows?
