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CSD, the company that purchased the rights to convert Newton Wayne’s home into “Graceland West” filed a lawsuit against the Las Vegas Legend citing unreasonable delay, animal abuse and sexual harassment.
Newton’s sprawling mansion, the much-visited former home of Elvis Presley, in Memphis, Tennessee, with its 17th-century antiques, South African penguins, Arabian horses and Renoir paintings, was scheduled to be turned into a tourist attraction. CSD LLC bought the rights for $19.5 million in June 2010. The company alleges that since then the Newton family has “unreasonably delayed the project to ensure it never opens.”
CSD claims that the mansion is in a “sad state of disrepair” and that when CSD purchased the mansion, Newton’s animals were uncared for and there were 6-foot tall piles of manure covering the grounds. The lawsuit also mentions that a female employee hired to train horses had alleged that Newton repeatedly kissed her on the mouth, citing sexual assault.
However, Newton’s lawyer responded that the allegations are salacious and that the company was making a preemptive strike (very popular in U.S. nowadays) in anticipation of a breach of contract suit by the Newtons. J. Stephen Peek, the attorney representing Newton said that the reason that construction was halted was because CSD was unable to obtain the necessary building permits from the authorities. He also said that allegations of negligence to animals were clearly untrue and the sad state of disrepair alleged by CSD was impossible as the house was used to film reality TV show “The Amazing Race” in 2009. Peek said that the sexual harassment allegations were attempts for financial gain.
The lawsuit filed by CSD seeks to evict Wayne Newton and his family from Casa de Shenandoah. The lawyer for Newton said that the “real substance will come out in time” to the Associated Press in a telephonic interview.
Referring to the Newtons, the lawsuit alleges, “It is quite clear that it was always their intention to remain in the Mansion regardless of the terms of the agreement.”
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A partial owner of the museum at the building, Geneva Clark, released a statement denouncing the allegations in the lawsuit, as made by the manager of CSD, Steven Kennedy. Clark said in the statement, “He is wrongly accusing the Newtons and mismanaging his role of leadership.”
It is also on record that Newton allowed the Associated Press to tour his estate in October 2010, months after the deal with CSD was finalized and at the time the property appeared to be clean and his animals seemed healthy and well-kept.
