Priscilla Presley’s Son Targeted in Bombshell Lawsuit

Well, now Priscilla Presley's son is. being dragged into her legal fight with. two former business partners. Navaron. Garcia has just been sued for allegedly. not paying for the work they allegedly. did for him, and they claim he messed up. their deals with Priscilla. There are. more allegations that we need to break. down right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. [Music]. Okay, so we have been covering this. constantly developing legal battle.

surrounding Priscilla Presley who's. being sued by two former business. associates. And now those same people. have just sued her son Navaron Garcia. Now before we even get into that, I have. to give you the backstory about what. we're talking here. So, Breijit Cruz, Kevin Fiago, the plaintiffs here, the. people suing, they are apparent. entrepreneurs in the Elvis memorabilia. world, and they claim that they helped. Priscilla Presley, again, Elvis's ex, manage and profit from her name, her.

image, her likeness, it's called NIL. But they claim they were ultimately. duped, that they were deceived and cut. out of future business opportunities. because of Priscilla. They accuse her of. fraud. They accuse her of breach of. contract, intentional interference, conversion, and they are seeking over. $50 million in damages. Now, the heart. of the lawsuit is that Priscilla. allegedly misrepresented her rights to. use the Presley name and brand. And she. allegedly told them that she owned, you.

know, all of the rights to her name, image, and likeness when in fact they. claim she had already given those rights. up, sold those rights. And as a result, they claim they argue they invested. significant time and money based on. false pretenses. And in an amended. lawsuit, and we covered this a lot here. already on Sidebar, they refer to. Priscilla as a calculated sociopath, a. master of deception, a pit viper. The. suit alleges that she has this long. alleged pattern of exploiting those.

closest to her for gain. Elvis, her. daughter Lisa Marie, there's a big. mention of her granddaughter Riley Kio. And I'm gonna elaborate on that for a. second because Cruz and Fialo claim, for. example, that during Priscilla's 1973. divorce from Elvis, Priscilla had waved. all rights to inherit anything from his. estate. Now, apparently she initially. received cash payments, car support, but. then they allege that she manipulated.

Elvis into getting more money, later. giving her millions, millions, and. millions. Lawsuit says Priscilla's. thirst for power and money was. insatiable. The complaint alleges that. she put a $494,000. lean on Graceand just months before. Elvis's death. And they claim, quote, she exerted undue pressure on Elvis, pushing him to his death. Yeah, that's. the allegation. Oh, and by the way, when. it comes to Lisa Marie Presley, the.

lawsuit, I mean, this is this is pretty. strong, too. They say she played a role. in her own daughter's death. that Lisa. Marie in in her final days, it claims. that at the 2023 Golden Globes, Lisa had. confided in Priscilla about serious. health concerns. They claimed that. Priscilla basically ignored those and. within days, Lisa Marie was dead. The. allegation being that Priscilla pulled. the plug on her own daughter. The suit.

accuses Priscilla of making a power grab. at the hospital, controlling the. narrative around her daughter's death, allegedly saying afterward, "I'm the. queen. I'm in charge of Graceand." Now, when it comes to the business disputes. with respect to Cruz and Fial, they. allege that Priscilla defrauded them, defraed them in business by falsely. claiming that the NIL rights she no. longer owned, that she had said one. thing, did another, that she allegedly. withdrew money from a shared business. account without permission, that she.

failed to disclose, that she was making. deals regarding her name, image, and. likeness. Uh, that she didn't tell Cruz. and Fial. They mention NBC's Christmas. at Graceand that she signed unauthorized. contracts, talking breach of contract, and they alleged that her actions caused. substantial financial damage and they. are now demanding compensatory and. punitive damages. Now, we got to talk. about this new lawsuit right against her. son. So, they have just sued Naveron. Garcia and here is what it says. I'm.

going to read it verbatim. Quote, "After. Priscilla Presley approached Pliffs Cruz. and FiOo to invest in her to save her. from financial ruin, Planiff's Cruz and. FiO created various entities to be used. to grow Presley's brand. Planiffs Cruz. and Fiago invested seven figures into. this endeavor for Presley's benefit, handling numerous tasks for Presley, including by resolving various threats. of litigation, resolving pending. litigation, and negotiating various. deals for Presley, which defendant. Garcia, again, her son, was well aware.

of. Additionally, plaintiffs were tasked. with taking care of numerous issues for. defendant Garcia. Specifically, plaintiffs spent countless hours. negotiating a settlement for defendant. Garcia, where he was ultimately paid a. sevenf figureure amount from the estate. of his late halfsister, Lisa Marie. Presley. Further, plaintiffs spent. extensive hours overseeing various. business issues for defendant Garcia's. banned them guns. To date, even though. defendant Garcia was enriched by pliff.

services, defendant Garcia has failed to. compensate pliffs for the value of their. services. Further on information and. belief, defendant Garcia convinced. Presley to cut off communication with. plaintiffs Cruz and Fialo and has. consistently interfered with the. businesses created to exploit Presley's. name, image, and likeness. Okay, so now. before I get into what they are suing. him for, I want to bring back on here on. Sidebar Long Crimes General Counsel, our. lawyer, Elizabeth Vu. Elizabeth, so good. to see you. Thanks for taking the time.

>> Thank you for having me on again. >> Why do this now? Why sue him? Why sue. him now after they've already filed this. amended complaint against Priscilla? >> Yeah. So, I think there are two reasons. So, some of the things that they're um. alleging in this complaint against her. son, Navon Garcia, is that they. performed certain uh tasks for him, you. know, resolving business disputes with. his band. Um they even say that they. helped negotiate a settlement um between. him and his halfsister Lisa Marie when. she passed away um involving the estate.

So, one of the things that they're. claiming is they were never paid for. that work. And as you mentioned that. they're alleging that he interfered with. the contractual obligations Priscilla. had by basically telling Priscilla you. shouldn't do business with these people. That's what they're alleging. Um and. then therefore sort of interfering with. her contract. So I think they are suing. him to try to pursue these claims and. they're saying they weren't paid that. they should be compensated. And then. also, I think what they might be trying. to do is sort of keep adding sort of. further threads into their overall theme.

of the lawsuit against Priscilla. Presley. I think that's why you also see. references to the issues that, you know, she had with Elvis in the 1970s, issues. with her daughter. It's sort of adding. to this. I always say in a complaint. there's the actual claims, but then the. themes. What are the themes that the. plaintiff's attorneys are trying to get. at with the complaint? Um, and I think. that's one of the themes is that, you. know, what they're trying to portray. Priscilla Presley as is somebody who, you know, gets out of contracts that is. has advantageous relationships that. maybe doesn't honor her obligations and.

kind of looping in her son here, I. think, sort of helps to further add to. that in their eyes. Now, I got to say. something with my job, I'm pretty much. exhausted all the time. And when I'm on. the road, I mean, I just was at Crime. Con out in Denver, I'm sometimes, you. know, homesick. And when life or work is. stressful that you're feeling burnt out, don't you just want to go to that one. safe place, that one comforting place, the bed, right? Talk about cozy earth. So Cozy Earth has these bamboo sheets. that are temperature regulating, which. means I wouldn't be waking up sweating.

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40% off. And if you see that post. purchase survey, let them know where you. heard about Cozy Earth right here. Because your bed, it shouldn't be just. where you sleep. It should be your happy. place. and Cozy Earth makes that happen. Is the goal to put more pressure on her? Maybe to settle now we're going after. your son and and um you know they're. throwing it's making the headlines every. day. It's like you know first it's what. happened with allegedly with Lisa Marie, then Elvis, now your son. Is that a goal.

here to put more pressure on her? >> I'm sure it could be because you know I. think it's one thing to file a. litigation against her. she's the one. that had the business relationships um. with these plaintiffs and the plaintiffs. are claiming, well, we also did work for. your son. So, it's a little bit uh tough. there. But, I think that's definitely a. tactic of saying, you know, we're not. only filing this litigation against you, we're now looping in your family. And. >> and and it's interesting that they're. doing this here because it, as far as I. can see, it's a separate lawsuit. It's. not like they added him as a defendant.

Why is the goal to join all these cases. together into one massive trial? It. could possibly be. I I think it's a. little bit tough to do that because. there are separate claims that they're. making between her and between her son. Um it's similar claims, right? Because. what they're alleging against Priscilla. Presley is that we did all this work for. you. We weren't compensated. But it's. tough because they're saying that Navon, her son, interfered with the. relationships that Priscilla had with. these plaintiffs. So, it's sort of a.

some it's over the overall themes are. obviously similar, but it's separate. action. So, I think it might be tough to. join it later on, but I think you were. right when you were getting at the. pressure to settle. And you know what we. also saw in the amended complaint that. they filed against Priscilla was. bringing in letters allegedly written by. her granddaughter to Priscilla and kind. of like really involving a lot of. members of her family in it. >> I I had the opportunity to interview. Cruz and Falco's lawyer on a previous. sidebar. You can go check it out. And I. asked basically, you know, where's the. evidence of all this with respect to.

Lisa Marie and Elvis? And you know it is. the initial stages of this litigation. there. He seemed to suggest that there. are people who will step forward to. corroborate these accounts. This was a. very barebones set of allegations. against u Mr. Garcia. >> Did they need to include more? I I still. didn't get a sense of what exactly that. relationship was like. What the services. they provided? What his understanding? How do they know for example that he. interfered with his mom's business.

dealings? I mean, they didn't present. text messages. They're saying upon. information and belief, right, as the. litigation moves forward, but how that's. a serious allegation to make. >> It is. And the you're right, the. complaint was pretty brief. There was. only three causes of action. They can. always, of course, amend it and add more. information. That's what they did with. the lawsuit against Priscilla. Um, you. know, in a complaint, it's the plaintiff. sort of had have that um advantage in. that they don't necessarily have to. provide evidence of every single cause. of action. You know, that's what the. rest of the litigation is for. Um, and.

judges always say, you know, you have to. abide by sort of the four corners of the. complaint, but it was very bare bones. You're correct. And the issue, one of. the claims that they make is um, interference with contractual relations. So, how can they prove? One of the. things they have to prove is that he. knew about all of these contracts that. Priscilla Presley had with these. plaintiffs. He intended to interfere. And where's the proof in it? Is it just. phone calls? But obviously, you know, we. always say the more written proof the. better, emails, texts, things like that. So, maybe they might have it later. I. want to go through those causes of.

action. Before I do though, um the fact. that they have sued him now, do you. think this is also a fight in the. public, the more it gets media attention. the more now they're accusing her son. and Priscilla? Is that a tactic, too? Again, maybe goes back to the idea of. trying to settle this, but is that a. tactic, too? >> Right. It could be. And that's one of. the things that was in the amended. complaint was they had mentioned Elvis. and you know they're insinuating she put. so much pressure on Elvis that that. partially even contributed to his death.

That I was really surprised to hear. about because that was you know almost. 50 years ago and what what does that. really have to do with this claim right. now? But I think adding in those details. about Elvis, about Lisa Marie and now. involving her son, I think it's putting. more pressure and then it also doesn't. paint a flattering light. You know, whether the allegations are true or not, we don't know. Um, but it's I think it's. putting the pressure on in the public. eye. And I'm sure anyone in her position. would want to correct the narrative if. they feel that that's incorrect, which. is also, funnily enough, we um received.

news that she's going to be coming out. with a memoir. And in the excerpt that. was shared today, she had talked about. when Lisa Marie Presley was admitted to. the hospital. So, it's almost sort of. seeing I mean, there's lots of reasons. why people put out memoirs, but you. know, possible wanting to correct the. narrative maybe. I think that's. definitely a part of it. And just for. our audience to be clear, in a civil. lawsuit, couldn't they call Priscilla. and Nearone as uh witnesses and grill. them about all this? >> Correct. Yes. So in a criminal trial, you know, you have the right to even if. you're the charges are being filed.

against you to not testify. Civil trial, you can't really get out of that. So if. it does end up going that further and it. doesn't get dismissed or go through. summary judgement, um they could. absolutely do that. >> I want to go through some of the causes. of action here in Garcia's count. So the. first one is called common count goods. and services rendered. And basically the. allegation from Cruz and FIAO is that. Garcia owed them money for services that. they performed for him that he requested. negotiating a complex settlement related. to Lisa Marie the estate managing uh the.

business affairs for his ban. And they. claim they did the work as he wanted but. they haven't been paid. They haven't. been compensated for the reasonable. value of their services. This is an. interesting cause of action. It's kind. of general, right? I mean, what exactly. are we talking about here? >> Yeah, it's it's um really phrased in. sort of an interesting way. I've seen. that a lot in New York, but really the. way that it's phrased in New York is. basically unpaid wages that you did all. this work. You weren't compensated for. it. It's I I really wonder, you know, if.

they had any sort of contract with her. son. I'm guessing probably not because. they probably would have included breach. of contract in the actions so far. >> So, it's an oral contract, like an. understanding. It might be an oral. contract. It might be sort of an. informal relationship of, oh, we're. doing all this work for your mother. You. know, we can help you out. And they. claim we resolved business disputes with. this band that would they even. negotiated a settlement with the state. of Lisa Marie for him, which I was. really surprised by. Um, so it's phrased. a little bit interestingly, but I think. it might be because they might not have. have had a formal working relationship.

>> Couldn't he just come back and say, "You. were doing work for my mom. You if she. said, "Hey, take care of something for. my son." Why am I on the hook for this? Right. Yeah. And also Priscilla Presley, they're saying that they had over, you. know, 20 written agreements with her. So, we don't know what were what was in. those agreements yet. It could be, you. know, maybe that they had an obligation. to perform certain duties for her son. and they would be compensated in a. different way for that or, you know, that was one of the thoughts I had. because when I read the complaint, I'm. like, "Oh, they didn't include breach of. contract yet." I wonder why. I think.

that might be why. >> they didn't. What they also included was. his alleged, like you said, interference. with Priscilla's contract. So there's. the second claim is intentional. interference with contractual relations. And Cruz and Fiago, they allege that. Garcia intentionally interfered with. their contractual relationship with his. mom, Priscilla Presley, who they say was. bound by these agreements to fulfill. certain obligations. And they claimed. that Garcia knew about these agreements,

allegedly persuaded Prisc Priscilla to. break these agreements, to break ties. with them, and these and this caused. breach of those obligations. And as a. result, they claim they suffered. financial harm that Priscilla that. Priscilla continued to profit from her. name, image, and likeness without paying. them. They they allege that Garcia acted. willfully, maliciously. They are seeking. punitive damages. We'll talk a little. bit more about damages, but if he first.

of all, how are they going to suggest. that? How are they going to prove that? Text messages, getting him on the stand, how can they say he's the cause for. breaking up the relationship? And by the. way, if he had a good reason, he's like, I don't trust these two. >> Is that a defense? >> Right? So, the first part is how can. they prove that? And then one of the. things that they have to prove is that. again, he knew about all of these. contractual obligations and he intended. to interfere with them. So, that's. always tough to prove. Um, you know, obviously the more written proof you.

have, text message, emails, documents, communications possibly between. Priscilla and her son where he's saying, you know, you've got to try to get out. of these deals. Um, it's tough though. because we don't know how much knowledge. does her son have about, you know, the. extent of her his mother's uh business. dealings. Did he know that they had. written agreements in place or not? So, I think that's going to be a big burden. um you know, obviously getting him to. testify to that is going to be hard. because he's probably going to say the. opposite. Um so I think written. communication and documents are going to. be really really key here. And um yeah,

certainly I mean I think that's one of. the defenses that could come up is even. if he were to say I wanted her to get. out of this, but there's a very good. reason why. And you know, I think that's. also stems from the lawsuit that. Priscilla filed because this all sort of. started when she filed a lawsuit last. year against the plaintiff basically. saying the same thing that you know she. alleged that they um committed fraud. that you know they sort of cos her into. signing all of these dealings. She. wanted to get out of it. So I think that. could add to it. >> And the third claim against him is.

intentional interference with. prospective economic relations. So they. allege that Garcia intentionally. interfered with their prospective. economic relationship with their mom. with his mom Priscilla Presley that it. was likely to benefit them financially. that he knew about this relationship. allegedly caused his mom to cut ties. with them and it disrupted this. relationship. It harmed their economic. interests and they claim Garcia again. acted deliberately and maliciously. So. very similar to the last claim, right?

>> Very similar. Right. So the again the. first part of it is that they're. alleging like they weren't compensated. for all these acts that they had. included. And then the last two claims. are sort of very overlapping and that. they're getting at the overall theme of. him allegedly interfering and. intentionally interfering with the. obligations that his mother had, you. know, with these what they're saying is. over 20 written agreements that she had. with them and then also the various. LLC's that they had set up for her. >> And they say he acted willfully, maliciously, oppressively, and.

despicably. I mean, you know, really. going after him. Okay, >> let's talk about what they could. potentially recover. There's economic. and non-economic damages. So, there's. exemplary impunitive damages. There are. reasonable attorneys fees pursuant to. California law, costs and expenses of. the suit, uh prejudgment interest at the. maximum legal rate, and other and. further relief as the court may deem. just improper. What are we talking about. here? >> Yeah. So, there is the aspect of. monetary damages, right? So all the.

things that they say they're entitled to. in terms of uh financial compensation. So the unpaid wages um damages you know. damage compens compensatory damages and. financial damages are awarded sort of as. a deterrent. So you know alleged. defendants who are found um liable for. wrongdoing are deterred from doing this. again. So that's where all the damages. that are intended to compensate them for. the harm that they say or loss that they. say they incurred um and sort of almost. like punitive damages as well of the. court. again trying to deter um.

defendants from acting this way. But. then you also have what's called. injunctive relief. So it's basically, you know, if the court were to find that. it's proper to provide injunctive. relief, meaning, you know, stopping. defendants from committing certain. actions again, maybe barring um the two. parties from having business deals with. each other, barring them from even. speaking with one another, any any sort. of relief that's nonmonetary. I don't. know what that would be because you. don't really see injunctive relief in. these kinds of cases. Um, but you know, we'll have to wait and see.

>> What do you think's going to happen. next? What may likely happen next? >> So, I definitely think um that Priscilla. Presley and her legal team, you know, her attorney has spoken out about this. and called it despicable and just, you. know, because there's a lot of really. heavy intense allegations in the amended. complaint specifically where they loop. in all the family members of the Presley. family. Um, so I think she's definitely. going to move forward either with a. motion to dismiss likely and if that. doesn't go through probably a motion for. summary judgement one to just. >> and explain that that's just a way to.

try to get the case thrown out. >> Sure. Right. So a motion to dismiss is a. defendant is able to file that pretty. much out of the gate just trying to get. the case tossed as opposed to filing an. answer and moving forward further in. litigation later on once discovery. happens. So once the parties exchange. documents once people have been deposed. then the parties have a chance to file. motion for summary judgement. And what. that's basically saying is the case. should be thrown out because, you know, all this evidence is presented. We. essentially we don't need to go to. trial. >> There's nothing for a jury to decide, right? >> Even if you take everything is true, there's no claim here,

>> right? And I think she's going to. probably pursue that one to obviously. try to get rid of the case. But then. two, you know, this isn't something that. probably she or any members of the. Presley family want to play out in. public. They don't want videotape. depositions, more evidence coming out, you know, anything evidence either way, right? So, I think a lot of people in. the public eye that are sued want to be. able to have this resolved without going. to trial, obviously to save costs and. things like that, but also the publicity. aspect of it as well. >> Yeah. All right. We'll see what happens. next. I know you've been following it.

As soon as we talked that we were going. to cover this, I can't tell if it was. our team or you were like, I want to. talk about this, but I'm so happy to. have you on. >> It's interesting. My mom is a very big. Elvis fan, so we grew up listening to. his music and everything. So, I'm. excited to be here. I know it's it is. disturbing to see these allegations and. see what's happening. But it's another. big civil case that is making its way in. the media and we're so happy to have. Elizabeth on and fan favorite. Everybody. loves hearing from you. So, thank you so. much. Good seeing you. And that is all. we have for you right now here on. Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much.

for joining us. And as always, please. subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. You can follow me on Instagram or X. I'm. Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].