'Richest Man in Hollywood' Accused of Grooming Feuds with Estranged Ex

A legend in the entertainment industry. and one of the richest men in the world. is facing a brand new challenge. A. seemingly very messy divorce from his. much younger husband. And what was once. a faceoff that took place behind closed. doors has now been thrust into the world. stage for everyone to see. We have new. details about the one multi-million. dollar item that is allegedly at the. center of all this drama. And we are. talking about it all with divorce. attorney Randy Kesler. Welcome to. Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime. I'm.

Jesse Weber. Instead of spending his retirement. enjoying all the pleasures that life has. to offer, spending the millions that he. made in the entertainment industry over. the last several decades, 82-year-old. David Geffen is instead embroiled in a. legal battle with his aranged husband, David Armstrong, also known as Donovan. Michaels. This is a man more than 50. years his junior, 32 years old. According to a recent writeup in the.

Wall Street Journal, quote, "Family. members, business associates, and. longtime friends of both men say they. are astounded to watch this unfold.". Now, Geffen worked in the music and. movie business for years. He served as. an executive for multiple record labels. He produced blockbuster films like. Beetlejuice and Risky Business. He. backed Broadway musicals like Dream. Girls and Cats. He has donated millions. of dollars to universities and arts. programs with multiple schools like UCLA.

and Yale naming entire departments after. him. Now, Michaels, on the other hand, comes from a much more humble. background. He was part of the foster. care system growing up, struggled in his. early adulthood, apparently turned to. sex work to make money, and he says he. had dreams of becoming a model. But. Michael's claims once he met David. Geffen, that dream came to a screeching. halt. So the couple's private lives. exploded in July when details about the. relationship and their separation.

started to pour out. And that is because. Michaels filed a bombshell lawsuit. claiming that Geffen had exploited him. using the promise of a relationship and. marriage and financial stability to lure. Michaels into being a sexual play thing. That's the basic allegation in this. 33-page suit from the complaint. Quote, "Michels is a 32-year survivor of the. foster care system who was pulled into. the orbit of an exploer masquerading as.

a white knight while hiding behind. wealth, philanthropy, and fame.". Michaels did not meet Geffin in a. boardroom, at a gala, or through mutual. friends. He met him on seeking. arrangements.com, a website where men like Geffen shop for. the vulnerable. Now the site which has. gone simply by seeking.com. this is a dating platform for. essentially the rich and famous. On its. homepage it states seeking is the. premier dating site for successminded.

singles. Those who possess the mindset. tailored for success in life also. possess the same mindset necessary for. success and love. Our platform is. designed to foster genuine and authentic. connections between our members leading. to the good life, lasting partnerships. and love. But here's the thing. This is. important to note. The site also. expressly states that quote, "Sugar. daddy situations, paying for sex, that's. forbidden." Michael's claims that didn't. stop David Geffen from finding him on.

the site and offering him $10,000 for. one night, which eventually, according. to him, turned into monthly payments for. sex work. According to Michael's legal. complaint, Geffen used a toxic mix of. seduction, control, promises of love, and lavish displays of wealth to ent. trap Michaels in a cycle of dependency, submission, and humiliation. Behind the. glittering facade of their relationship. was a calculated pattern of abuse and. commodification. Now, we actually did a.

full breakdown of Michael's lawsuit. against David Geffin. You can check it. out on Long Crimes YouTube page. But one. of the most shocking details to come out. is that Geffen and Michaels didn't sign. a prenup. They didn't sign a prenuptual. agreement before marrying in 2023. Instead, Michaels claims the two had an. oral agreement where Geffen agreed to. keep Michael's in the lap of luxury for. the rest of his life in exchange for. Michael's companionship as he traveled. the world. And in an answer to Michael's.

lawsuit, Geffin's attorney called the. allegations quote ludicrous and. contrived, writing, "Plainif cannot. embarrass Geffin and extort a settlement. with petty gossip and salacious lies.". And according to that court filing, the. marriage imploded because Michaels. abused Geffin's generosity despite being. quote treated like a king. Geffin's. attorneys claimed that Michaels had his. assistants charge hundreds of thousands. of dollars to Geffin's accounts for. luxury clothing, cosmetic procedures, gifts for his friends. Geffin also.

claims that Michael spent heavily on. only fan subscriptions and male escorts. And Michael's alleged drug use is also. provided as a reason why the marriage. fell apart. According to the Wall Street. Journal, Geffin staff reportedly found. drugs in his room after Geffin had paid. for Michael's rehab. Okay, so I want to. talk all about this and I want to bring. on an expert. I want to bring on Randy. Kesler, who is a prominent divorce and. family law attorney out of Atlanta. He. has represented a number of different. celebrities. Is also, by the way, a. professor at Emory Law School, teaches.

jury trials. Randy, thank you so much. for coming on. I mean, can I first start. and and say, you know, we're talking. about what, one of the richest men on. the planet, believed to be worth, I. don't know, around $9 billion. That is a level of wealth and power that. we can only dream of. And yet, no. prenup. Really, >> you know, I'm having flashbacks to the. prince situation, right? You remember. Prince died without a will. And really, what people that don't have prenups or.

wills do is they make a lot of money for. people like me, right? You know, that's. what an insurance policy is. That's what. a prenuptual agreement is. It sort of. pre-decides. the divorce. and shocking. Although he. can afford good lawyers and he's got the. best that there is. Laura Waser is. really the absolute best in the country. So, who knows? Maybe he's a romantic. Maybe he just said, "I don't want to sit. and think about the legalities because. everyone's going to tell me he's too. young for me and I should be worried. about a divorce." Who knows? But yeah, I'm not as shocked as most people. There. are a lot of people that don't get.

prenups that really, really should. So. just to be clear though, his fortune. could be mostly protected because it. matters if he earned it before getting. married. >> Exactly. Right. Especially in. California, earnings during the marriage. are a community property divided 50/50. Earnings before the marriage and what. those earnings generate the passive. income. So if he's got $9 million in the. bank and a certificate of deposit and it. pays interest during the marriage, that's, you know, that's still his. Plus, whatever he earned during the.

marriage, they don't split it unless. they saved it. So maybe whatever they. earned during the marriage, they save. So yes, if they go to court without a. prenup, you know, Michaels is getting. half of whatever he can prove Geffen. earned at age 80. You know, >> does it matter? Does it matter the. length of the marriage? So just what. just over two years. Does the length of. the partnership make a difference in. this calculation in this analysis? >> Not in that analysis. They might in some. cases where they're seeking alimony. Let's say that somebody didn't have 9.

million 9 billion. or even 900,000. All they had was a good. income. Well, then if you're married for. a long time, it's not fair that someone. has a good income to keep going that. they created during the marriage and the. other one was a housewife or house dad. and stayed home, raised the kids, then. the the length of marriage would matter. really for the alimony, but not for. division of property. >> Now, talking the law here, we're talking. a lot about it. You know who are experts. in the law? Morgan and Morgan, okay, our. amazing sponsor, America's largest. injury law firm. This is a firm with.

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Could he make an argument, hey, listen, you know, I abandoned a lot of what I. was hoping to do by going into this. marriage. Um, I can I can kind of chart. for you what my success would have been. I'm not even saying in this case. I'm. saying generally speaking, um, I should. be entitled to more than the community. property. I should be entitled to more. because of what I gave up uh, by. entering into this marriage. Um, lost. earnings in a way. Is that ever an.

argument? Is that a successful argument? >> Not in California and not in most places. because that's a very typical argument. I mean, there are a lot of responses to. it. Number one, that kind of stuff. doesn't really matter. It's what did. they earn. It's automatic sort of in. California. The other thing is, you. know, he gave all that up, but he. probably got a lot in exchange, right? Look at his wardrobe. Look at the amount. of money he got. Look at the the trips. he took. Look at the life he led. There. are a lot of people in this world that. would say, "You know what? I'll give up. two years of my life to be able to. travel the world on a $400 million yacht.

and whatever it is." So, those arguments. are really not going to play in front of. this judge. It's 50/50 of whatever was. earned during the marriage. >> By the way, the people might be averse. to signing prenups or or at least. introducing the idea of a prenup to. their partner because why they're. concerned that it'll uh create bad. blood. They'll break up. They'll get. into a fight. Is that the reason why you. see a prenup not part of the. conversation? >> I don't think so. I think it's more an. advers or hesitance to go see lawyers.

and and make it into a legal process. instead of a romantic process because. truthfully, if you think about it for. more than a few seconds, having a prenup. means you don't have to worry about the. financials. You don't have to worry. about disputes because that's already. preddecided. You can focus on your love. and affection and and do that kind of. stuff. And if it doesn't work, you're. not worried that somebody's going to do. something to try to cheat you out of. money because you've already pre-aggreed. on what's fair. So prenups actually make. it easier to focus on your relationship.

instead of these ulterior motives of. well is he just doing this so that he. can get more money in front of a judge. So I I I think it's just the hesitance. to walk into a lawyer's office and make. this love romantic process into a legal. process. >> And we are learning more by the way. about the assets that Michaels thinks. he's entitled to. And that includes. Geffin's luxury super yacht. So Geffen. bought the rising sun for almost $600. million. We are talking about an. absolutely massive vessel here. This is.

according to CBS News. It has 82 rooms. 82 rooms, a wine celler, a movie. theater, a basketball court. It has a. crew of more than 40 people. The. superyacht reportedly became a second. home for Geffin and Michaels as they. travel the world. And according to the. Daily Mail, Michaels believes that he is. entitled to the rising sun in the. divorce. And he claims that Geffen. promised it to him when they were still. married. Says that Geffen referred to.

the yacht as a money suck. Now, Daily. Mail reports that an unidentified source. told the Wall Street Journal that a. conversation about the yacht did occur. and that when Michaels found out that. Geffin wasn't planning to leave him the. boat, he became irate. But Geffin's. attorneys told the Journal that Geffin. never promised Michaels any assets. Said. Geffin's financial managers could. testify that he never mentioned giving. Michaels his yacht. So Randy, what do we. make of this? Um, how much does a. conversation matter in terms of whether.

or not you were relinquishing assets to. your former significant other? >> It it's a money grab. I've got two. answers, the legal and the practical. Legally, promises get made all the time. during marriages. And I'm sure that, you. know, Gthan can respond and say, "Well, he promised me that he wasn't going to. cheat or that he wasn't going to use. drugs or whatever we're hearing in the. news that he found that, you know, Michaels was doing with other people and. hanging out." And so, yeah, maybe one. broke a promise, another broke a. promise. That's called a marriage. Just. because you promise your spouse.

something doesn't make it legally. binding unless you can put it in writing. and it's a contract and there's some. consideration for it. You know, and I'm. sure Geffin would say the consideration, as we all know as lawyers, means you get. something for it. Well, what he would. have wanted was loyalty, fidelity, you. know, affection, stuff that he is going. to say that he wasn't getting. Now, the. practical answer is why would he want a. $600 million yacht? Because not only is. it a $600 million yacht, it's got costs, like you said, all the employees, all. the staff, all the maintenance. He's.

going to then require money to take care. of it. >> Only reason he wants it is so he can. sell it. Yeah, he could sell it, right? He could sell it. >> Why get the yacht? Then why not just. say, "Listen, I think I'm entitled to. the yacht, but I'll tell you what. I'll. take 10% of the value of the yacht and. we can be done with it and he should be. fine. >> He probably doesn't want to even give. that up considering it, right?" You. know, but. >> sounds like you've got money to fight. and he's got nothing to lose. >> Let me ask you this. What um is it you. see that in a divorce battle that it. sometimes it can come down to one big.

asset, house, maybe not a yacht, but. something of that nature, piece of land, piece of property of some kind, maybe a. car. Do you usually see a fight get. nasty when it's about one piece of. property or one piece of or an asset I. should say? >> Every single day, Jesse, you know, it's. it's what makes it complicated to get a. divorce. It's not about business. It's. not a business transaction. You know, how do we just divide it up and do the. math? Somebody's usually attached to. something and they really want it. And. the flip side is not it's not often that. both sides are attached to the car or.

the yacht. What I always find. interesting is that they don't want him. to have it because they want it or. they're angry about the relationship or. the way the relationship ended. So they. find what the other as what the asset is. that their partner wants and they don't. give it to them. They think that's going. to show them or approve them or. vindicate them. And you know we spend a. lot of our times. trying to convince people make it a. business decision. figure out what makes. sense so you can put it behind you. You. know, people get angry and it's sort of. like a death, right? You've got to. grieve it. You got to get through it. And each one has to handle it their own.

way. And you know, David Geffin is. pretty damn successful. And I'm sure. when he says, "This is what I want to. do." He's going to persevere until he. gets what he wants because he has his. whole life and he's been able to do what. he wants. Um, and I think Michael saying. he wants the yacht is basically telling. Geffin, "Okay, now I know what to not. give him." If anything, >> there's something interesting about this. that Michael's what made what would. usually be behind the scenes drama very. public with this lawsuit. Does Geffin. have any recourse there? You know,

damage to his reputation, you're putting. this out in the public or does. Michaelels have a right to a legal right. to make these claims? >> So, he can say whatever he wants, you. know, and it's got to be true or else. it's defamation, right? Unless you put. it in the pleadings and it's got some. basis for truth. But you can't go out. and badmouth somebody and tell lies if. he knows they're lies. And Geffin has. the money to pursue a Johnny Depp kind. of, you know, defamation case if you. wanted to. But what's really striking to. me, and again, you mentioned we. represent some high-profile folks, not. not guys as wealthy as David Geffin. If.

I was in his shoes, if I was Michael's. lawyer, I'd say you get much more out of. being nice to David Geffin than you do. by taking him on. You can take him on. and you can fight, but whatever you get, that's it. You're going to make enemies. Not just David Geffin, but anybody that. knows him, anybody in the business. If. you want to be a model or an actor or. whatever else, you know, do it behind. the scenes. Be polite. A two-year. marriage for a 30-year-old guy. I mean, the whole world's now drawing an opinion. of Michaels and didn't really know who. he was before. Now, David Geffin's.

already got his reputation. He's already. set. He knows what his legacy is going. to be. He really doesn't have a lot to. lose is the way I would answer your. question. >> How is this going to shake up? What do. you think's going to happen? >> It it's going to get I think it's going. to get resolved, but again, I don't know. the personalities. And again, it's. driven by the clients. If David Gffin. says, "You know what? I'll be darned if. this guy's going to make a mockery of me. and make a fool of me and make these. allegations. I'm now going to see this. all the way through to the end." It. could take years. Remember, Schwarzenegger case took years and years. and years to get resolved. Um, things.

can get tied up in California for a long. time. Uh, the one thing is David Geffin, I'm sure, even though he didn't get a. prenup, I'm pretty darn sure he's got. his estate planning and his will. prepared because if he dies without a. will, guess who gets it, right? So, um, maybe a reason he went and filed the. divorce to get it out of the way, make. sure, you know, before his health. deteriorates, before he gets too old. >> And the the mere filing of that, that. would be that would be sufficient, right, in terms of a will.

Well, I think no. I think if there, you. know, we've had people that have died. during a divorce and the will still. govern. So, David Geffin, I'm sure, has. his will revised already. He's got great. lawyers. I'm sure as soon as the. marriage wasn't going well, probably. even before he filed for divorce, he. changed his will. But if he has not. changed his will and it leaves. everything to his husband, or if he. doesn't have a will, then everything. goes to his husband. Even if the divorce. is pending, he's got to be divorced and. separated from that person um legally.

before the will or or the intestate laws. would govern and give the money to to. the spouse. Yeah, he's he's got a if he. didn't get a print up, I hope he's got a. will. >> Randy Kesler, thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> My pleasure. Thanks, Jesse. >> 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 podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.

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