Deeply indebted Lisa Marie Presley and manager in dueling lawsuits

LOS ANGELES - Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley, says she is facing financial ruin and has filed a $100 million lawsuit accusing her former business manager of negligence and mismanaging her finances.

Her ex-manager has filed his own lawsuit, accusing Presley, 50, of squandering her famous father's inheritance because of her lavish lifestyle. The lawsuit seeks $800,000 in unpaid bills.

The dueling lawsuits, filed earlier this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, follow the collapse in 2016 of Presley's fourth marriage and her announcement that she was $16 million in debt.

Presley was just 9 years old when Elvis died in 1977, leaving her his sole heir. Her affairs have been managed by Barry Siegel since 1993, when she came into her inheritance through a trust.

Her lawsuit said Presley's "11-year odyssey to financial ruin" began in 2005 and alleged that as result of Siegel’s actions, "Lisa has been damaged in an amount that has not yet been fully ascertained, but is believed to be in excess of $100 million."

The 2005 deal she was referring to involved income from Elvis' former home Graceland and his intellectual property rights.

The lawsuit said that by 2016, the trust was left with $14,000 in cash and over $500,000 in credit card debt.

Siegel's lawsuit said Lisa Marie has "twice squandered" her inheritance and she had been repeatedly told to curb "her spendthrift ways."

Siegel's attorney, Leon Gladstone, said in a statement on Friday that the 2005 deal Presley was complaining about "cleared up over $20 million in debts Lisa had incurred and netted her over $40 million cash and a multi-million dollar income stream, most of which she managed to squander in the ensuing years."

"It’s clear Lisa Marie is going through a difficult time in her life and looking to blame others instead of taking responsibility for her actions," Gladstone said.

Presley launched her own career as a singer in 2003 and has released three albums to mixed success. She is better known for her two-year marriage to singer Michael Jackson and her 108-day marriage to actor Nicholas Cage.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fans shake, rattle and roll at Australia's Elvis festival

SYDNEY -- Hundreds of hip-shaking and wig-wearing Elvis Presley lookalikes and fans of the late King of Rock and Roll took trains from Sydney bound for Australia's annual Elvis festival on Thursday.

Strains of "I Was The One" rang out along the platforms of Sydney's Central railway terminal as jumpsuited, coiffed and guitar-wielding passengers boarded the "Elvis Express" and "Blue Suede Express" bound for the country town of Parkes, some 357 km westward.

"Elvis is close to my heart because we grew up with Elvis in India," Alfred Vaz, who dressed in a blue flared jumpsuit and also goes by his stage name of Bollywood Elvis, or Raja, told Reuters television beside the locomotive.

"From a very little kid, we always used to gyrate and try sing Elvis like: One for the money, two for the show," he said, launching in to a rendition of "Blue Suede Shoes."

During the six-hour train trip over mountains and through wheatfields and grazing pastures, Elvis tribute artists will entertain the passengers.

The festival, in its 26th year, is expected to attract about 25,000 people to Parkes, more than doubling its population for the duration of the four-day event.

The focus this year is on celebrating 50 years since Presley's 1968 "comeback special," an intimate and unplugged show credited with reviving his then-flagging recording career.

Street markets, lookalike contests, parades, a car show, displays of Presley artefacts and tribute performances are planned.

"It's a must for all Elvis fans," said tribute artist Kingsley Rock, whose website promises: "If you want the King to sing at your thing, give me a ring."

"Its just one big party and everyone there loves Elvis, why wouldn't you not come back year after year," he told Reuters.

source: news.abs-cbn.com