(Photo: Deadline)
Conspiracy theories and gossip surrounding Stan Lee have been running rampant in the past few months and haven’t really slowed down since. According to TMZ, Lee has just lawyered up against POW! Entertainment for a massive sum of $1 billion. The lawsuit, against company CEOs Shane Duffy and Gill Champion, alleges that the two took advantage of a grieving Lee and convinced him to part with his name.
According to Lee, they tricked him into signing documents that gave away the rights to his name and likeness. As Lee’s eyesight is declining, and he needs people to read his emails and other small-text documents aloud, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone were dishonest about to what exactly he was agreeing. That seemed to be the case with the previous document.
Lee, who refused to give his name to Marvel when Disney took over, has a pretty strong case against the company. More important than the money, he is fighting to get the rights to his name and likeness back, as they are his most prized possessions. Since his wife’s Joan’s death, Lee has been robbed, accused of sexual assault, announced that his social media profiles have been hacked, in addition to all of the rumors about his mental state. It’s clear that regardless of what is really going on or who is at fault, Lee needs the support of his fans now more than ever.
This news follows a barrage of incidents that have occurred since his wife’s passing. Lee, who was battling a severe case of pneumonia right after losing his wife, of 69 years, was uncharacteristically absent on social media and several of his friends were concerned when his phone number and contact information were disconnected and they had no way to reach him.
The gossip included people accusing Lee’s daughter of elder abuse for controlling him and trying to steal his money, and Lee being taken advantage of by lawyers. Lee has a history of making relatively poor financial decisions and Joan was the one who handled most of the logistics of their life together. Without her guidance, things seem to be falling apart for Lee and at age 95, it wouldn’t be surprising if people were trying to take advantage of him, but the swarm of rumors weren’t helping.
Stan Lee recorded a video to combat the rumors and stated, “We sort of live in this environment where anybody can say a lie about anybody and it immediately gets published and it gets transmitted and millions of people read it, see it, and believe it and I want to say as definitely as I can my relationship with my lovely daughter J.C. is wonderful and my relationship with my good friend Kia Morgan is great. We’re best friends. In fact, he’s taping this right now.” At the end of the video, Kia urged Lee to mention his declining vision with, “and remember the macular generation, Stan.” Stan dismissed him with, “Oh, to hell with that.”
Yesterday, Lee called out to his fans on Twitter.
From now on, I will depend on you, my dear fans, to protect and defend me. I love you guys and am so happy I have control of my twitter account back. You guys are my true superheros.
Excelsior!
Stan— stan lee (@TheRealStanLee) May 15, 2018
Hopefully, justice will be served for Stan and his fans will support him without adding fuel to the fire of rumors and conspiracies that make matters worse.
