Judge blocks sale of Graceland, at least for now
Earlier this month, Riley Keough sued to block what her lawyers said was a fraudulent attempt to sell the estate
Well here’s a bit of news that sounds more like something from one of Riley Keough’s movies than anything that should have happened to her in real life. Earlier the month, the actor and granddaughter of Elvis Presley was forced to sue to block a company from attempting to sell Graceland, in what her lawyers say was a completely fraudulent scheme.
Wait… but how can some random company sell a property that has belonged to the Presley family for over half a century? According to court filings (via The New York Times), the company, Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC, claimed that the late Lisa Marie Presley (Elvis’ daughter and Keough’s mother) had borrowed 3.8 million dollars and put the estate up as collateral before her death in 2023.
While it’s true that Lisa Marie was heavily in debt, Keough’s lawyers claim that Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC “appears to be a false entity” and forged the documents it presented about the loan. One of these, for example, appeared to have been notarized by a woman named Kimberly Philbrick in Florida in 2018, who denies ever having done so. “I have never met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever notarized a document signed by Lisa Marie Presley,” Philbrick stated in an affidavit. The NYT also says that attempts to contact Naussany Investments through the phone numbers and email addresses listed on their website were unsuccessful.
The case went to court, and today, a judge deferred the ruling to allow time for “adequate discovery” to take place. That means Graceland is safe—at least for now. Keough’s lawyers need to present additional evidence and, more importantly, someone from Naussany Investments needs to actually show up in person in their defense, which apparently did not happen this time around. Hmm!
For now, Graceland has released an official statement saying that “there will be no foreclosure.” The statement continues: “Graceland will continue to operate as it has for the past 42 years, ensuring that Elvis fans from around the world can continue to have a best-in-class experience when visiting his iconic home.” Hopefully it stays that way.