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Graceland is not just the iconic home and place of rest for Elvis Presley and his close family. It is also a place of pilgrimage for millions of fans worldwide.
Upon the deaths of her great-grandmother Minnie Mae and grandfather Vernon, Lisa Marie Presley became the sole heir in 1979. When she died in January 2023 at just 54, her eldest daughter Riley Keough inherited the estate, although a very public legal battle was then fought with Priscilla Presley. A settlement was reached granting Elvis’ ex-wife a lump sum of £818,000 from daughter Lisa Marie’s £20 million life-insurance policy, and a payment of £81,000 a year for ten years.
On May 19 this year, a public notice was posted in local media announcing the sale at auction of The Memphis mansion and its surrounding land at Shelby County Courthouse. An investment company is claiming that Lisa Marie died owing $3.8million and had used Graceland as collateral for a loan.
Naussany Investments & Private Lending filed the lawsuit in September last year and the date set for the auction is May 23.
Understandably, this will horrify Elvis fans. The estate has been held in family hands since the singer’s death in 1977 and has become a living museum. The grounds also hold extensive archives, which the public has no access to. Even their location is only known to a very few.
The upstairs area of Graceland has also always been off limits to everyone except immediate family like Lisa Marie and then her children. Fans have always respected the maintaining of Elvis’ most private areas. But what will happen if the estate is sold to the highest bidder?
Riley Keough and Elvis Presley Enterprises have just filed a new lawsuit in Shelby County Chancery Court to stop any attempt at the sale.
A statement said: “Elvis Presley Enterprises can confirm that these claims are fraudulent. There is no foreclosure sale. Simply put, the counter lawsuit has been filed is to stop the fraud.”
The lawsuit disputes the veracity of the loan and Lisa Marie Presley’s signature on the documents. It also alleges that Naussany Investments and Private Lending LLC does not actually exist and that the loan was never notarized.
The suit argues that the foreclosure sale would therefore be “non-judicial” and based on paperwork that violates Tennessee law.
In another extraordinary development, Kurt Naussany, who is named as a defendant, responded by email that he left Naussany Investments & Private Lending in 2015 and should not be named in the filing.
The hearing for Riley Keough and Elvis Presley Enterprises is scheduled for Wednesday this week, the day before the auction.
Riley,34, is the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough. Her younger brother Benjamin died in 2020 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
She is a two-time Golden Globe nominated actress who has starred in shows including Daisy Jones and the Six, The Girlfriend Experience and The Terminal List, as well as movies like Mad Max: Fury Road.