This past year has been a difficult one for Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, and recent revelations have given friends and fans cause for concern that the 95 year-old may be a victim of ongoing elder abuse. Lee has a net worth of tens of millions of dollars, and many of the reports surrounding him concern people close to him vying for control of his assets and properties, and taking money from his accounts. Lee continues to have cameos in every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, but in recent months he has canceled several public appearances and reportedly been difficult to reach.Things came to a head this week when The Hollywood Reporter published an upsetting summary of their investigation into the people surrounding Lee, and the potential abuse and exploitation that he may have been subjected to. You can read the full report for more details, but here's a breakdown of the recent timeline of events, which highlights the apparent escalation in the fight for control of Lee's care and assets.
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- This Page: Winter 2014 - February 2018
Key People:
Joanie Lee, Lee's wife of 70 years, who passed away in 2017.
J.C. Lee, Lee's 67 year-old daughter.
Max Anderson, Lee's longtime bodyguard and road manager.
Keya Morgan, a memorabilia dealer and acquaintance of J.C., described as Lee's "primary gatekeeper."
Jerry Olivarez, a publicist and acquaintance of J.C., who gained power of attorney over Lee following Joanie's death, and handled Lee's doctor's appointments and home care.
Linda Sanchez, Lee's home care nurse.
Tom Lallas, Lee's attorney, who put together a notarized declaration that Lee signed in February 2018.
Winter 2014
According to Stan Lee's former manager, Bradley J. Herman, an argument between J.C. Lee and her parents escalated to physical abuse. The alleged incident involved J.C. shoving her mother against a window so that she fell to the floor, and then grabbing Lee by the neck and slamming his head against the wooden backing of his chair. Herman shared photos of Joanie and Lee's injuries with THR, and another visitor to the house confirmed that they had seen the wounds as well.
June 7, 2017
Joanie Lee passed away at the age of 93, after 70 years of marriage. THR's report states that this was "the beginning of the pandemonium," as Joanie had "maintained the resolute last word on the couple's household affairs," and was "always more successful at handling their unruly only daughter."
December 29, 2017
TMZ reported that police were investigating a check that had allowed someone to draw $300,000 from Lee's account without his knowledge or approval. THR's report confirms that this check was made out to Olivarez, who claims, "Mr. Lee told me I had given him a new lease on life after Mrs. Lee's passing... He gave me a check as a thank-you."
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January 9, 2018
The Daily Mail published an article stating that Lee had been accused of sexual assault and harassment by his home care nurses. However, no civil suits or police complaints were filed. In a response statement, Lee's then-attorney Tom Lallas categorically denied the allegations, adding that, "Mr. Lee has received demands to pay money and threats that if he does not do so, the accuser will go to the media. Mr. Lee will not be extorted or blackmailed, and will pay no money to anyone because he has done absolutely nothing wrong."
February 1, 2018
Lee was rushed to the hospital with an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath. He was released after one night.
February 13, 2018
Stan Lee signed a declaration, put together by his attorney Tom Lallas, that details J.C.'s total financial dependence on his fortune, her rampant overspending on credit cards, and an incident in which J.C. allegedly came to Lee's house uninvited with her attorney and demanded that he execute a Grant Deed and give the house to her. You can read the declaration in full below. Lee later distanced himself from the declaration and denied knowingly signing it (see April 10, 2018).
February 16, 2018
Lee's road manager Max Anderson was fired after Keya Morgan called the police to report that Anderson was behaving aggressively towards J.C. at Lee's home. Anderson was also accused of skimming money from Lee's speaking engagements and stealing items for his comic convention memorabilia exhibit, the Stan Lee Museum (Anderson denies these allegations). Speaking to THR, Morgan said, "I honestly believe that Max is very dangerous and has the ability and rage to actually kill one of us."
February 20, 2018
Lee's nurse, Linda Sanchez, completed a non-notarized declaration at Lallas' office, which detailed J.C.'s "verbal and physical altercations with her father." The declaration also states that Morgan threatened to tell the media about a DUI and hit-and-run misdemeanor from Sanchez's past if she told anyone about the incidents of abuse that she had witnessed. Shortly afterwards completing the declaration, she was fired.
February 27, 2018
TMZ reported that a special LAPD unit dealing with elder financial abuse was called to Lee's home after Lee claimed that $1.4 million had gone missing from his bank account.
February 28, 2018
The Daily Mail published an article alleging that Sanchez washed Lee in the shower while he was naked, and gave him "happy ending" massages. A complaint against Sanchez was submitted to Los Angeles County Adult Protective Services, though it's unclear who issued the complaint. In a video later shared with THR, Lee is seen "angrily denying any inappropriate relationship with Sanchez to others, including her nursing agency boss."
On the same day, Lee shared a video with TMZ telling his fans that his recent cancelations of planned appearances were due to the fact that he is battling pneumonia, adding, "but it seems to be getting better."
March 2, 2018
Bleeding Cool published a message written by comic book artist Neal Adams, who expressed great concern over the fact that Anderson had been fired. "Somebody is keeping Max from Stan and I know Stan must be the worse for it and so I'm worried very much for Stan Lee," Adams wrote. "I wasn't worried when Max took care of him. So what the hell is going on?" Bleeding Cool also reported that they had heard similar concerns "from high levels at Marvel Comics, including from those who don't like Anderson, but do appreciate what Max has done for Stan."
March 5, 2018
Bleeding Cool published a second article about concerns over Lee's wellbeing and Anderson's firing, this time from comic creator J. Scott Campbell, who wrote:
"Forcibly cutting Max out of Stan's life, and so soon after his wife Joanie has passed seems particularly cruel to the both of them and has caused a lot of us in our industry to talk, much of it about our collective concern about the mystery of who exactly is taking care of Stan now and why is he being kept out of sight and in his home... I mean, think about it, instead of being taken to a hospital, this ill 95-year-old man is being kept hidden away in his house, the only glimpse of him filmed for exploitive TMZ videos?
"Max took much better care of Stan than this. I have great concern for Stan and I do hope more in our industry start speaking up, start asking more questions and start shining more of a bright light on this situation to find out what's exactly going on here before it's too late."
March 7, 2018
Filmmaker Kevin Smith expressed concern for Lee on Twitter, saying that he was "extremely worried" by the news of Anderson being fired. Smith later addressed a tweet to Lee's official account, saying that none of the phone numbers he has for Lee work any more, and asking if he could come and visit to check up on him. There was no response from Lee's account.
March 15, 2018
J.C. and Morgan went to the offices of POW! Entertainment, the media company co-founded by Lee, at night and took unknown materials, causing the company to alert the LAPD. In a video recorded by Morgan, Lee said that Morgan and J.C. went to the offices to bring him some œpersonal artifacts that he wanted at home. POW! responded by saying that they found it œhighly unusual and unexpected that Morgan and J.C. would show up in the middle of the night to remove the items without notice or permission.
March 29, 2018
Spawn creator Todd McFarlane visited Lee in order to check on him, having been concerned by the recent spate of news articles. McFarlane later published a Facebook post in which he described the one-hour visit. The two exchanged stories and "every day, normal banter," but McFarlane did not claim to offer any insight into Lee's life, saying, "What Stan does with all the rest of his personal time was not something we talked about during my visit."
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April 1, 2018
TMZ reported that someone had used $850,000 of Lee's money to purchase a condominium. THR's report confirms that it was Olivarez who purchased the condominium, but Olivarez says that Lee gave him permission to buy it because Olivarez had received death threats and Lee wanted him to live in "a secure building where he thought I'd be safe."
April 2, 2018
A TMZ article was published featuring claims by Keya Morgan that a "former business associate" had used a forged document to order a blood sample from Lee, and that the blood was to be used in place of ink in a collection of specially commissioned pens. THR's report confirms that the businessman in question was Jerry Olivarez, and there was indeed a merchandising effort that involved Lee's blood being mixed into specially designed "DNA" ink. Olivarez claims that Morgan organized a smear campaign to make the blood ink merchandise sound "sinister," and denies that he stole the blood, saying that Lee was on board with the idea and his doctor gave approval.
April 7, 2018
Stan Lee attended Silicon Valley Comic Con, and many fans expressed concerns about how fatigued he seemed. In a Facebook post, multiple fans said that they had heard about an incident in which Lee fainted or fell asleep during the convention. Many said that they had been excited to meet their hero, but were saddened and concerned when they saw the state he was in.
April 10, 2018
THR published the article summarizing the investigation into Lee's condition, titled, Stan Lee Needs a Hero: Elder Abuse Claims and a Battle Over the Aging Marvel Creator. The article included two videos, filmed by Morgan, in which Lee says, "my relationship with my lovely daughter, J.C., is wonderful. My relationship with my good friend Keya Morgan is great. In a separate video, Lee cites his macular degeneration and says that because he is almost blind, he could have been tricked into signing the declaration without really knowing what it was. Lallas, the attorney who notarized the declaration, says he went through it "word by word, line by line" with Lee.
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