Celebrities Dragged Into Family Feud Over Aretha Franklin’s Estate
Oct. 16 2019, Published 9:39 a.m. ET
The family of Aretha Franklin are dragging a famed record executive, a retired NBA All-Star and a tough-talking TV judge into the all-out war for the “Respect” singer’s $80 million fortune.
Arista Records great Clive Davis, former Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas and daytime Emmy-winning jurist Greg Mathis are all expected to be called in as witnesses in the cutthroat courtroom battle, according to documents obtained by RadarOnline.com.
The celebs are just three of the more than 40 potential witnesses listed by Franklin’s kin, who are locked in a feud over control of the estate.
Franklin seemingly died without a will in her Detroit, Mich., home in 2018 at 76 after battling pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer.
Franklin’s four sons agreed to let cousin Sabrina Owens administer the estate, but that arrangement fell apart after three handwritten
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wills were found inside the singer’s home on May 3.
Davis produced several of Franklin’s greatest hits, while Thomas called her his “surrogate mom” and she called him her favorite “Bad Boy” during the Pistons’ 1989 championship run.
Judge Mathis worked with Franklin to raise money to help the poor during the Flint, Mich., contaminated drinking water crisis.
The court case is expected to start next year.