Last July, Priscilla Presley claimed in a stunning lawsuit that she was the victim of a “meticulously planned” financial elder abuse scheme that defrauded her out of more than $1 million. The author, actress, and ex-wife of Elvis Presley alleged that Florida memorabilia dealer Brigitte Kruse “duped” her into signing “unconscionable and unenforceable” contracts that gave Kruse full control of her finances and exclusive rights to her valuable name, image, and likeness.
Kruse disputed the allegations, claiming Presley was facing “impending financial ruin” when she stepped in to help rescue the cultural icon. In her own breach of contract lawsuit filed against Presley in October 2023, Kruse said she essentially shut down her auction business to help manage Presley’s life full-time. She said her 51 percent share of Priscilla Presley Partners – the main company formed to own and control Presley’s publicity rights – reflected her indispensable role. (Presley received 49 percent.)
A pivotal moment described in both lawsuits was a videotaped document-signing session held at Kruse’s Florida home on Jan. 8, 2023. At the meeting, Presley was represented by Florida lawyer Lynn Walker Wright as Presley signed contracts formalizing several new companies. Presley claims she was ambushed and defrauded, adding that Walker Wright was Kruse’s “friend” and that she was asked to sign the documents “with little to no explanation of the contents of each agreement.”
In a sworn statement last year, Presley said Walker Wright failed to advise her of potential downsides, including that the agreements gave her only minority interests in everything – in some cases, only 20 percent. Presley’s lawsuit called Kruse a “con artist and pathological liar” who took advantage of an “elderly” mark. (Presley was 77 at the time.)
Rolling Stone has now obtained a recording of that meeting. The video, being shared publicly for the first time, gives a new window into arguably the most crucial juncture in the high-profile and deeply contentious legal battle.
Presley’s supporters will note the dramatic moment when Presley makes clear, on camera, that she hadn’t had a chance to read the documents. “Jeez, it’s a lot of paperwork. I’m glad I didn’t have to sit here and read it,” Presley says. “I’m glad you read it,” she continues, reaching out to pat Walker Wright’s arm.
But at other stages of the meeting, Presley states more than once that she is signing the contracts of her own free will because she trusts Kruse. She appears fully cognizant throughout the 27-minute video and looks relaxed and polished, dressed in a designer outfit. At one point, she discusses having attended a high-profile social engagement the night before, where she met President Trump. “It was actually quite a fun evening. It really was,” Presley says. “We sat at the table with Trump and his beautiful wife, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was very entertaining. I got to meet his family.”
Priscilla Presley Document-Signing Video Clips
“Mrs. Presley, has anyone tried to twist your arm or (is anyone) in any way unduly influencing you into making any decisions that we’re going to have you sign off on today?” Walker Wright asks, with Presley seated next to her in the home theater at Kruse’s Florida residence.
“No, not at all,” Presley says in a soft voice. Presley confirms on-camera that it was her decision to award Kruse power of attorney and install Kruse as a new co-trustee of her estate alongside Presley’s cousin, Barbara Iversen.
In the video, Walker Wright explains that Kruse and Iversen are replacing Presley’s former business manager, Barry Siegel, and asks why Presley is seeking the switch. “I believe in them,” Presley says of Kruse and Iversen. “And I trust them, and they know a lot about my business.”
Walker Wright then asks Presley if there’s anyone else she wants in the room for the document signing. “Probably Brigitte,” Presley says. Walker Wright acknowledges for the camera that Kruse has joined them in the room. “Hi, Ms. Presley,” Kruse says in a soft voice from a position off-camera. When Presley confirms she personally requested that Kruse join them, as a “witness,” Kruse calls the gesture “so sweet.”
The first document Walker Wright asks Presley to sign is an acknowledgement that Walker Wright is representing Presley personally while also acting as the lawyer who drafted the contracts between Kruse, Presley and a third partner, business advisor Kevin Fialko.
“It’s a document that protects me, so all three of you all know that I’ve got the hat on where I’ve done the LLCs, but I’m representing you personally, so nothing is in conflict,” Walker Wright says. Without missing a beat, the lawyer turns to the signature page, and Presley signs. (Walker Wright later stated in a declaration filed in California that she saw no conflict in her role representing both Kruse and Presley because the parties signed self-prepared agreements in October 2022 outlining their business relationship. She determined the partnership had “already been negotiated,” she wrote.)
In the video, Presley signs the document creating Priscilla Presley Partners, the company that gave Kruse the controlling 51 percent stake in Presley’s intellectual property. “This company now will manage your name, image and likeness, and it is very private and confidential, so I’m gonna have you sign that first so I can put that away,” Walker Wright says.
“Do I get copies of these?” Presley asks.
“Yes, ma’am,” Walker Wright responds. “There’s only one set of originals, because I don’t want there to be more than one. They will go back with me today. I will be in charge of the chain of custody of this.” (Walker Wright stated in her September declaration that she shared at least some of the documents with Presley’s San Diego-based attorneys ahead of time. In a separate declaration filed in November, Presley said she had “no knowledge” of that.)
In the video, Walker Wright then describes the document giving Kruse power of attorney. “(It) means that she can manage your business affairs when you can’t. This means that she can do your banking for you. This means that she can speak to, I don’t know, business persons for you. …This is what she will have to take care of your business. It is good during your lifetime,” Walker Wright says.
“I don’t like thinking about this stuff,” Kruse says, off-camera, referring to any suggestion she might need to make decisions for Presley due to incapacitating illness.
“Neither do I,” Presley says, eliciting laughter in the room.
“I will always work with Navarone on that,” Kruse says, still off-camera, referring to Presley’s adult son Navarone Garibaldi. “I will be hand in hand with Navarone, always. If anything ever happens, my thing is, I just want to be there for him.”
Presley thanks Kruse, placing a hand to her heart. Walker Wright then has Presley sign a residential lease for a property owned by Kruse’s husband. The lawyer mentions the husband, Vahe “Mike” Sislyan, by name, but does not specify on camera that it’s a five-year lease. “It is going to be your Florida address, because you are going to be our neighbor,” the lawyer says.
“Yes,” Presley responds. “OK, I get it.” The moment is notable considering Presley has claimed in multiple filings that she did not want or need the lease, never occupied the Orlando property, and had no idea Kruse’s husband owned it.
When it was time for Presley to sign the contract creating Virtual Recollections – the company set up to develop Presley-related holograms, NFTs, and other digital products – Walker Wright said nothing on camera about how Kruse and Fialko would receive separate 40 percent shares while Presley would receive a 20 percent share. In her lawsuit, Presley called the split “egregious and outrageous.” “I only need your signature right there,” the lawyer says on the video, turning to the signature page.
The next document was for a similarly titled company, Recollections of Priscilla Presley, which was set up to collect money from any transactions where Presley offers her personal recollections to authenticate – and ostensibly increase the value of – Presley family memorabilia. That contract, signed by Presley, gave Kruse 47 percent, Presley 43 percent, and Fialko 10 percent.
“Let me just see something,” Presley says, taking the document and flipping to a prior page. The lawyer asks if she’s looking for the “percentages.” Presley says yes. The lawyer flips to the ownership breakdown page. “I do want to talk to her about this,” Presley says, referring to Kruse. Walker Wright then sets that contract aside. At this point, Presley makes the comment that she’s glad she didn’t have to read the contracts.
In a statement sent to Rolling Stone, Presley’s lawyer, Wayne Harman, says his client stands by her claim that Kruse and Fialko took advantage of her. “Ms. Presley trusted Ms. Kruse and Mr. Fialko, and believed them when they promised that their efforts to have complete control over her finances were for Ms. Presley’s benefit. When Ms. Presley discovered the extent of what they had done, including, as she alleges in the complaint, transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars from her bank accounts to their own, and declaring that they had a majority interest in Ms. Presley’s own name, image, and likeness in perpetuity, she was devastated,” Harman says. (Fialko and his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.)
At another point in the video, Presley asks if it’s even an option for her to act as trustee of her own trust while she’s still alive, and only designate Kruse and Iversen as successor co-trustees (meaning they would take over only after Presley’s death). Walker Wright says she can. Kruse then steps in, advising Presley that it’s best to make them co-trustees ahead of time.
“It’s the inevitable, anyways,” Kruse says. “You’re always going to be the boss,” Kruse assures Presley. “I don’t think so,” Presley says with a laugh.
The video ends with Walker Wright leaving the room so Presley could speak with Kruse about the Recollections contract. Though it’s not shown on camera, the document was eventually signed that day. It was later attached as an exhibit to court filings in the civil cases.
In a second video from the same day, also obtained by Rolling Stone, Presley is heard describing why she decided to designate Kruse as her medical power of attorney. “I trust her, and she’s been through this, and I’ve watched her with someone very close to her. I was impressed with the love and the care and the attention that she gave this loved one. And I trust her with me,” Presley says. Reached by phone, Kruse says Presley was referring to her efforts caring for a longtime friend who died of cancer.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Kruse denies taking advantage of Presley. Kruse says she was working for Presley seven days a week leading up to their dispute and “thoroughly” discussed with her the ownership breakdowns of the various companies. She claims Presley agreed to the percentages before the signing meeting because she agreed Kruse and Fialko were doing the “heavy lifting” in terms of monetizing her intellectual property. (Presley still owns her first name, Priscilla, but she previously forfeited her right to exploit the Presley surname when she received a $6.5 million payment in a deal back in 2005.)
“I truly cared for this woman like I would my own parent,” Kruse says. “I never needed to hook my wagon to Priscilla Presley. As a matter of fact, the worst mistake I ever made was trying to help her.”
In the elder abuse lawsuit, Presley and her lawyers blasted Walker Wright, saying her decision to videotape her own client, especially with Kruse in the room, crossed a line. In her sworn statement, Walker Wright stood by her actions. “I had videotaped other clients executing estate planning and other documents in the past if I had any concern that a document would possibly later be contested,” she said.
“Lynn Walker Wright categorically denies any claims of elder abuse or any other claims in the lawsuit by Ms Presley,” Walker Wright’s lawyer, Jennifer Eden, says in a statement to Rolling Stone. She says Presley “dismissed all claims against my client,” noting that the claims were dropped “with prejudice,” meaning they cannot be filed again.
In her preemptive lawsuit filed first in 2023, Kruse alleged that Presley illegally walked out on their agreements when her financial circumstances changed in the wake of Lisa Marie’s death. As Rolling Stone previously reported, two weeks after Lisa Marie died on Jan. 12, 2023, Presley challenged a 2016 amendment to her daughter’s trust that removed her as a co-trustee. Presley later reached a settlement with granddaughter Riley Keough that granted her a $1 million lump-sum payment, a $100,000 annual salary, and burial rights near Elvis at Graceland.
Priscilla Presley Document-Signing Full Video
Kruse claimed that once Presley’s financial situation changed, she “cut off all communication” with Kruse and excluded her from opportunities to capitalize on Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, the film adaptation of Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me. Kruse also claimed Presley redirected the “request booking” button on her personal website to an email address not associated with Priscilla Presley Partners, an alleged violation of their partnership. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Kruse calls Presley’s elder abuse lawsuit “heartbreaking,” saying it took a wrecking ball to her reputation and career. “It’s all been ruined because I tried to help her,” she says.
But Presley and her lawyers aren’t backing down. They claim Kruse and Fialko attached themselves to Presley to boost their own profiles. In the suit, they accuse the pair of having “the audacity” to demand that Priscilla’s settlement with Keough over Lisa Marie’s death include a promise that Keough would do her best to get Kruse and Fialko invited to Priscilla’s eventual funeral. In a declaration filed in March, Presley also claimed Kruse attempted to get a credit on Priscilla, and that her interference “strained” Presley’s relationship with Sofia Coppola.
“Financial elder abuse is an extremely serious matter that often goes unreported, and the perpetrators are often those closest to the victims; those who have gained the victim’s trust and isolated him or her from her family, friends, and trusted advisors,” Harman says. “The circumstances leading up to Ms. Presley’s claims in this case are not easy for her to discuss, but she gained the courage to take action by knowing that it will bring awareness” to a “significant problem,” he says. “We look forward to the court holding defendants fully accountable for their actions.”
As Kruse’s business lawsuit and Presley’s elder abuse complaint continue to unfold on separate coasts, the parties are waging a fierce battle over which court is the right venue. Kruse has been fighting to have all aspects heard in Florida, where she lives and alleges she was wronged. Presley is fighting for California, where she lives and alleges she was the victim of a “ruse.” Harman says California has “a strong policy and statutory scheme to protect its citizens against elder abuse.”
The judge overseeing the California case has set a hearing for July 17. In a recent ruling, he upheld Presley’s fraud claims against Fialko while dismissing a conspiracy claim. The judge found that while some of the disputed contracts include clauses favoring Florida law, Presley’s fraud and elder abuse allegations should be governed by California statutes. Fraud “is a defense to enforcement of a contract,” the judge wrote in an order earlier this month.
In the Florida case, an evidentiary hearing on Presley’s motion to dismiss for alleged lack of jurisdiction is set for July 21. No matter where the legal feud eventually lands, the video of the document signing in 2023 will undoubtedly play a significant role.