The legendary Graceland, the historic Memphis homestead that long housed the late musical sensation, Elvis Presley, was poised to go under the hammer in a public auction on Thursday. That was, until Presley’s granddaughter, Riley Keough, mounted a legal challenge that brought proceedings to a temporary halt.
The 34-year-old actress, Riley Keough, now finder herself embroiled in a fierce legal battle to save her cherished inheritance. Upon the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, on January 2023 at the tender age of 54, Keough stood as the inheritor of Graceland and the remainder of her famous grandfather’s sprawling estate. The inheritance, however, came shrouded in controversy and legal entanglement due to a trust.
At the core of this dispute is Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC, a private equity firm led by financier Kurt Naussany, who believes they hold legitimate title to the illustrious 13-acre property. The basis for their claim lies in a $3.8 million loan that Lisa Marie reportedly took out in 2018, pledging Graceland as collateral. This loan, according to Naussany Investments, was left unpaid, prompting them to call a public foreclosure sale earlier this month.
Committed to protect her inheritance, Keough promptly contested these claims. In a suit filed in a local Tennessee court, Keough fiercely argues that her mother had never borrowed money from Naussany. The lawsuit contends that the incriminating documents that Naussany initially produced in September 2023 are deceptively fraudulent, essentially posing Naussany Investments as a fictional entity masterminded to defraud both Keough and the Promenade Trust through which she retains ownership of Graceland.
The court documents, made publicly available on Tuesday, further maintain that the notary enlisted on these papers denies having ever encountered Lisa Marie or notarizing any documentation in her name. This claim is supported by a statement from Elvis Presley Enterprises, the stewards of the Graceland museum, denying the authenticity of Naussany’s claims, describing them as fraudulent, and assuring that “the counter lawsuit has been filed is to stop the fraud.”
The contention surrounding the ownership of Graceland is far from resolved. An injunction hearing is slated for Wednesday in the Shelby County Chancery Court, promising to provide some clarity on the fate of this beloved estate.
Since 1982, Graceland has served as a museum and tourist destination, paying tribute to the life and legacy of the inimitable Elvis Presley who died unexpectedly at 42 in 1977. The storied mansion, visited by hundreds of thousands of fans each year, also hosts the graves of Elvis, his parents, and his stillborn identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley. More recently, it has become the resting place of Lisa Marie Presley and her second born, Benjamin Keough. The saga of Graceland continues, as the world waits with bated breath for the result of this remarkable legal dispute.
