Sumner Redstone's Competence Questioned in Court Petition -- Update
November 25 2015 - 6:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Keach Hagey
Sumner Redstone, the 92-year-old controlling shareholder of
Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., lacks the capacity to make decisions
about his health care and can't follow even brief conversations or
sign his name unassisted, his former girlfriend said in court
documents filed Wednesday.
Manuela Herzer, who once dated Mr. Redstone and has in recent
years lived in his Beverly Park mansion and helped oversee his
medical care, was thrown out of the mansion last month. She was
replaced as his health-care agent by Viacom Chief Executive
Philippe Dauman, meaning Mr. Dauman will have the authority to make
health decisions for Mr. Redstone in the event he is incapacitated.
In a petition filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ms. Herzer
alleges Mr. Redstone wasn't of sound mind when this decision was
made.
"I am convinced that if Sumner indeed signed anything himself
that day, he lacked the mental capacity to understand what he was
signing, much less the legal and practical significance of the
documents he signed," Ms. Herzer said in the petition.
She asked the court to determine that Mr. Redstone lacked the
mental capacity to remove her from her role in his health care in
mid-October, and to find that he currently lacks the ability to
make his own medical decisions, essentially triggering her role as
the active agent of his care.
Mr. Redstone's attorneys responded forcefully to Ms. Herzer's
petition on Wednesday with their own court documents, saying Ms.
Herzer's application was all about her "personal financial agenda"
and fears that she will be cut out of Mr. Redstone's will.
"Ms. Herzer's claim that she filed this lawsuit out of concern
for Mr. Redstone is preposterous. It is a meritless action, riddled
with lies, and a despicable invasion of his privacy. It proves only
that Ms. Herzer will stop at nothing to pursue her personal
financial agenda," said Gabrielle Vidal, an attorney at Loeb &
Loeb, in a statement.
Ms. Herzer painted a picture of an elderly media mogul in
rapidly declining health and estranged from his children, including
his daughter, Shari Redstone, who serves as vice chairman of the
boards of both Viacom and CBS. According to court documents, Mr.
Redstone must be carried around the house, no longer reads or
watches the financial news he once avidly followed, and is unable
to talk "except brief grunted responses." Yet he remains "fixated
on having sex on a daily basis" and eating steak, despite his
doctor's warnings against both.
While Mr. Redstone's health has been poor ever since bouts of
pneumonia and aspiration in 2014 led to the installation of a
feeding tube, Ms. Herzer alleges it was his breakup with his
44-year-old girlfriend, Sydney Holland, in August that really sent
him downhill, turning him into a "living ghost."
Ms. Herzer's petition is accompanied by an affidavit from a
geriatric psychiatrist, who hasn't examined Mr. Redstone directly,
claiming that Mr. Redstone was "incompetent" due to a combination
of brain damage caused by his respiratory problems and psychiatric
disorders aggravated by his recent breakup.
The subject of Mr. Redstone's health and mental competence has
remained a topic of intense interest among Viacom and CBS
investors, given his roughly 80% voting stake in each. Viacom
investors have been particularly concerned, with the stock down
about 30% so far this year.
Mr. Redstone controls Viacom and CBS through National Amusements
Inc. Those interests will pass to his grandchildren and their
descendants upon his death or if he is deemed incapacitated,
according to a statement in May from Mr. Redstone.
A seven-person trust will manage the holdings by majority vote.
The trust will include Shari Redstone; her son Tyler Korff; Mr.
Dauman; David Andelman, a CBS board member; George Abrams and
Norman Jacobs, lawyers who have worked for Mr. Redstone and his
family; and Leonard Lewin, an attorney for Phyllis Redstone, Ms.
Redstone's mother and Mr. Redstone's former wife.
Viacom declined to comment.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2015 18:21 ET (23:21 GMT)
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