Shares in Viacom (VIAB – Get Report) fell on Monday as the Los Angeles judge in a case challenging billionaire media mogul Sumner Redstone’s mental competency to oversee controlling interests in Viacom and CBS (CBS – Get Report) threw the proceedings out of court.
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“There is no good cause for further judicial involvement where the court has now heard directly from Redstone that he has lost trust in Herzer, does not want her in his life and instead wants his daughter Shari to look after him if necessary”, the judge wrote in his ruling. Redstone’s ex-girlfriend and former caretaker filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court late last year, claiming the 92-year-old majority shareholder of CBS and Viacom was mentally incapacitated when he ousted her from a September 3, 2015, advance health care directive. “Though Herzer may have believed that Restone would not be able to say anything, or be able to understand the questions, he did both”. “I was actually teary-eyed when I left”, he said.
Herzer’s lawyer, Pierce O’Donnell, told reporters outside court that his client would appeal and file a new suit for $100 million U.S. – this time against Shari Redstone for interfering with Herzer’s expected inheritance and invasion of privacy.
Asked to explain why he did not explain to Herzer why he was ordering her out of his house and his life, Redstone answered, “Because she’s a (expletive) bitch”.
Manuela Herzer filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court in November a year ago. During the first day of trial on Friday, Superior Court Judge David Cowan suggested Herzer would have an uphill battle convincing him in the bench trial after the court was shown video testimony in which Redstone apparently made his feelings on Herzer clear.
Herzer had contended that Redstone lacked the mental capacity to expel her from his home previous year.
Mr Redstone is a director and controlling shareholder of CBS and Viacom, two of the world’s largest media companies.
Redstone’s attorneys applauded the ruling in statements after Monday’s hearing. He also relayed “supposed love messages” from the woman to Redstone “to increase his influence over Sumner, crossing ethical and professional boundaries without hesitation”.
“Ms. Herzer bet wrong when she assumed that Mr. Redstone’s difficulty communicating would result in her reinstatement in his life and fortune”, said Robert Klieger, an attorney at Hueston Hennigan who’s representing Redstone. He added that she had tried to cut him off from family and friends, as well as his daughter Shari Redstone.
Cowan said Redstone clearly stated his intentions.
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Another witness Friday, Stephen Read, a psychiatrist hired by Herzer to examine Redstone, told the judge that Redstone displays symptoms of dementia.
