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The battle over Elvis Presley’s private memorabilia, including letters he wrote to The Beatles and Dean Martin, that his estate claims were stolen has heated up in court.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Thomas McDonald, who was sued by Elvis’ estate over an auction of the singer’s personal items, is firing back at the accusations.
Back in December 2024, Graceland Holdings and Elvis Presley Enterprises, who operate The Elvis Presley Trust, sued a company called GWS Auctions and several other defendants, including a woman named Brigitte Kruse.
Brigitte and Priscilla Presley, Elvis’ ex, are in the middle of a separate $1 million legal battle.
In the lawsuit, Graceland Holdings and Elvis Presley Enterprises claimed they are responsible for preserving Elvis’ legacy and artifacts.
The lawsuit said it sought to recover from defendants “personal property in the form at least seventy four irreplaceable documents and items of memorabilia belonging to [The Elvis Presley Trust], which items defendants have improperly and illegally offered for sale at auction.”
The suit continued, “[The Elvis Presley Trust] also believe defendants are in possession of perhaps thousands more such items also belonging to [the trust] beyond those Defendants have listed publicly for sale and also seek the return of all such physical property.”
The estate reps said Elvis was managed by a man named Colonel Tom Parker. In 1990, the estate purchased the greatest collection of Elvis-related documents and memorabilia ever held by anyone other than Elvis from Tom.
The deal said Tom agreed to turn over every Elvis related item in his possession. However, the estate claim not all of the items were turned over.
The estate believes some of the items ended up with Tom’s former employee named Greg McDonald. The estate says the items at issue in the lawsuit are the items that ended up with Greg.
When Greg was contacted he claimed that the “entire affair had been a misunderstanding and that he did not in fact possess any such materials.”
Greg claimed all the items were photocopies of documents, not originals. The estate claimed it only recently learned that despite his claims, Greg did have original materials related to Elvis.
“It is apparent how these items came into Greg’s possession and made their way to [Brigitte] and her auction house,” the lawsuit read.
The suit said Greg died but his relatives provided the property to the auction house. Elvis’ estate said they fired off a cease and desist over the auction in December 2024 demanding the items, worth over $2 million, be returned.
The auction was held despite the legal threats from Elvis’ estate. The estate’s lawsuit demanded the items not be transferred to the buyers until the judge hears their argument.
In the newly filed response, Greg’s son, Thomas McDonald, asked that Elvis’ estate be shut down.
He said that his father obtained the items in question from Elvis’ manager Tom. Thomas said his father worked for Tom for years and helped on Elvis projects.
Thomas said, “When Elvis passed in 1977, Greg, [Tom], and those close to him were devastated. In the years after his death, Greg would save all the files and items he attained while working with [Tom] in relation to Elvis. [Tom] would do the same, and while he kept much of it for decades, he purposely gave Greg numerous items and files, knowing that Greg would keep care to preserve them well.”
Thomas said his father was gifted from Tom various documents including a 1956 Las Vegas contract, earnings statements for Jailhouse Rock, earnings statements from his record label RCA, merchandise agreements signed by Elvis, a power of attorney document and payroll documents.
Other items included various telegrams that Elvis sent to The Beatles, Priscilla Presley, Bing Crosby, Roy Orbison, Dick Clark, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin and various other entertainers.
Greg claims the items were in his father’s possession long before Tom made the deal with Elvis’ estate to sell all of the Elvis related items in his possession.
Greg claims the items at the center of the lawsuit were not in Tom’s possession when he executed the deal. “[Elvis’ estate] position themselves as historians, preserving the legacy of Elvis Presley.
They have undoubtedly attained an impressive collection of artifacts and memorabilia to tell the story. However, plaintiffs now use their position as armor in a callous attempt to take property to which they have no rightful claim,”
the suit read. Greg noted that he took issue with the lawsuit portraying his father as a “greedy employee” of Tom who “stole property worth millions of dollars from him.”
The auction was held despite the legal threats from Elvis’ estate. The court issued a temporary protective order prohibiting the items from being transferred to the people who bought them until a hearing later this month.
Brigitte told ABC News the claims in the lawsuit were “unfounded and without merit.”
English (US) ·