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What The Heck Is Going On With Comic Legend Stan Lee?

Stan Lee is old.

The 95-year-old comics legend created some of the world’s biggest superheroes: Spider-man, Black Panther, Iron Man, the Hulk, and countless others. Now, Lee is wrapped up in a bizarre, confusing case of alleged elder abuse and legal drama.

Back on June 13, Stan Lee was granted a temporary restraining order against his former business manager and caregiver, Keya Morgan.

The BBC reported in June that the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating elder abuse allegations against Morgan. In a petition for the restraining order, Lee’s former lawyer, Tom Lallas, claimed that Morgan isolated Lee and unduly influenced him. Yet a spokesperson for LAPD also told The New York Times that “the police were not conducting an elder abuse investigation related to Mr. Lee.”

It was the latest strange twist in the sad saga of the Marvel Magnante, whose comic creations have given him legendary status in our superhero-obsessed times.

Lallas petitioned for the restraining order by including his own accounts of the abuse. This occurred after Morgan was arrested under the suspicion of making a false claim that Lee’s home was being burglarized.

“Three unidentified people have gone inside this house…and locked the door and locked his security out and I’m very, very scared that they’re harming him,” Morgan reported, according to a police transcript.

So who is Keya Morgan, and how did he come to manage Lee? In the June restraining order petition, Lallas claimed that after Lee’s wife Joan died last year, Morgan became Lee’s business manager. Previously, Morgan was a New York memorabilia dealer.

According to Lallas, Morgan “inserted himself into Mr. Lee’s life” following his late wife’s death and took advantage of the aging artist.

Mr. Lee suffered from hearing, vision and memory impairments.”

According to The New York Times, Lee could not resist the outside influence Morgan had on Lee’s decision-making due to his advanced age. Combined with Lee’s net worth of more than $50 million, Lee’s fans worry he is vulnerable to those who wanted to take advantage of his growing wealth.

Yet on June 10, days before the temporary restraining order was granted, Lee himself proclaimed to the world that Morgan does, in fact, represent him.

“I just want to go on the record as saying I have only one partner, only one person who does represent me, and that’s Keya Morgan, and anybody else who claims to be my rep is just making that story up,” Lee said in a video message released on Twitter.

Elder abuse is an unfortunately common occurrence. Nearly 70% of Americans require long-term care and assistance around the age of 65, and the 95-year-old Stan Lee suffered from many of the ailments associated with old age.

Lee has also reportedly sued Pow! Entertainment for $1 billion for taking advantage of him. According to BBC, the entertainment company that Lee helped found “made him sign over his name and image rights.”

Pow! Entertainment, however, claims Lee fully understood the agreement.

In regard to the case against Morgan, a detective for the case claimed that Lee “acknowledged how Morgan has helped him, but would forget Morgan’s name when speaking of him.” This could factor into the case against Morgan, as the detective noted Lee was being heavily influenced by Morgan.

The temporary restraining order prohibits Morgan from contacting Lee or coming within 100 yards of him.

The restraining order will expire on July 6 after a court hearing.

Written by Marley D.

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