The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating allegations that Stan Lee is the victim of elder abuse, according to a restraining order application filed on Wednesday.
A judge granted the order pending a hearing on July 6. The order blocks Keya Morgan, a memorabilia collector who has been acting as Lee’s manager, from contacting Lee or coming within 100 yards of him.
The application was filed by Tom Lallas, an attorney who represented Lee until he was fired in February. Lallas accuses Morgan of isolating Lee and putting his wellbeing at risk.
“He has been denied contact with family members and other individuals that he has known and trusted over the years,” Lallas argues. “Mr. Morgan relocated Mr. Lee from his family home into an unfamiliar environment without notifying relatives of his whereabouts.”
According to the document, police and adult protective services officers were called to Lee’s home on May 30. Morgan arrived while the detectives were there, and made a 911 call claiming that three unidentified subjects had broken into the home.
The document alleges that Morgan made a second false report to 911 the following day, accusing a security guard of assault with a deadly weapon. Morgan was arrested on Monday on suspicion of making a false police report, and is due in court on July 2.
Morgan has been involved in the filing of two lawsuits on Lee’s behalf in the last two months. The first suit, filed in April, accused former publicist Jerardo Olivarez of using Lee’s blood to create a commemorative stamp without Lee’s consent, among other claims. At the time, Morgan told Variety that there were many “snakes, leeches, sharks, vultures, jackals, wolves,” seeking to take advantage of the 95-year-old’s frail condition. The second suit, filed in May, alleged that Lee had been hoodwinked into selling away his exclusive publicity rights when he sold Pow! Entertainment to a Chinese buyer last year.
According to Lallas, Morgan inserted himself into Lee’s life as a caregiver after Lee’s wife died in July 2017. Morgan took control of Lee’s home in February, and hired a security team, Lallas alleges. After Lallas was told that he had been fired, he tried repeatedly to get in touch directly with Lee, but was unable to reach him. He subsequently contacted law enforcement to check in on Lee’s welfare.
“Mr. Morgan has instructed security to deny family members or others who have helped Mr. Lee in the past access to Mr. Lee,” Lallas alleges. “Family members have been unable to contact Mr. Lee by telephone. Additionally, Mr. Morgan has forced all of Mr. Lee’s staff, including nurses and security personnel, to sign non-disclosure agreements. These agreements have prevented staff from sharing their concerns on behalf of Mr. Lee.”
Morgan contacted police in December to accuse another Lee associate of elder abuse. A detective who looked into the allegation has interviewed Lee. According to a police report attached to the application, the detective found that Lee is influenced by Morgan.
“Morgan was removed from the room during the actual interviews of Lee,” the detective wrote. “At the time, Lee acknowledged how Morgan has helped him, but would forget Morgan’s name when speaking of him.”
The police report also includes transcripts of Morgan’s calls to 911. On the first call, Morgan urges a skeptical dispatcher to send police immediately.
“I have a very dear friend I take care of who is 95 and um uh three unidentified people have gone inside his house and locked the door and locked his security out and locked everyone out and I’m very very scared that they’re harming him,” Morgan said. “These are not people he knows or I know and they’ve locked everyone out and he’s 95.”
Police were dispatched to the scene, only to find that the three “unidentified” people were two cops and a social worker.
Stan Lee Restraining Order by gmaddaus on Scribd
