Attorneys for media mogul Sumner Redstone filed a motion on Friday opposing the request by Viacom Inc Chief Executive Philippe Dauman to move up the trial over his removal from Redstone’s trust, MA state court papers showed. Dauman and Abrams off the trust as well as the board of his holding company National Amusements Inc., through which he controls almost 80% voting stakes in Viacom VIAB, -0.56% and CBS Corp.
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Last week, Sumner’s granddaughter, Keryn Redstone, accused her aunt Shari of kidnapping and brainwashing the aging media mogul.
Viacom’s embattled chief executive Philippe Dauman and board member George Abrams are suing Redstone to be restored as a director and trustee to entities that control Viacom and CBS Corp.
The two executives argue in their suit that they should not be removed from Redstone’s trust, which will control Viacom and Redstone’s other media company, CBS, after he dies or is incapacitated.
After a 2-1/2-hour court hearing on Tuesday in MA, the state where Redstone’s trust was originated, Phelan said he may or may not decide on Dauman and Abrams’ motion for an expedited trial before he receives a formal motion for dismissal from Redstone’s lawyers.
Meanwhile, Herzer’s legal team has notified the court that they may request a new trial in the case over whether Sumner Redstone is mentally competent.
Ninety-three-year-old Sumner Redstone has so severe a speech impediment that he’s nearly impossible to understand except when he unleashes vulgarities – “which he can speak remarkably clearly”, one of his attorneys told a judge Tuesday. Last week, two allies of Shari Redstone were named to the trust that will oversee Sumner Redstone’s holdings – shifting the balance of power.
A spokesman for Redstone did not have an immediate comment.
Philippe Dauman has perhaps one chance to save his job as Viacom chairman, president and CEO – and it begins right … about …
The decision by the judge in the Norfolk, Mass., probate court could be key to Dauman’s standing within Viacom, parent of Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures.
Dr. James Spar, a professor at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine, said that Redstone attributed their removal to Viacom’s declining stock.
“She has undertaken to control virtually every aspect of his life”, Fagen said.
Dauman and Abrams want an independent expert to examine Redstone.
The judge didn’t immediately rule on the requests. They also stated at the hearing that in the six months since Dauman gave a sworn declaration in a prior case that Redstone was “engaged and attentive”, there’s been no diminished mental capacity. He’s alleging that Shari has unduly influenced her father.
During the hearing, attended by more than 20 lawyers, Dauman and Abrams’ attorneys argued the trial should be expedited because of Redstone’s age and poor health.
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“We all continue to have great respect and affection for Mr. Redstone, but he is clearly being manipulated by his daughter, Shari”.
