Graceland Questions Authenticity of Elvis Presley Memorabilia Sold by Auction House; This is a Mess
An auction house that sells Elvis Presley memorabilia, and also has ties to Priscilla Presley, has come under fire by Graceland executives questioning the authenticity of some of its items. https://t.co/kJuGuNUtKP
- The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 21, 2024
• An auction house that sells Elvis Presley memorabilia- and also has ties to Priscilla Presley- has come under fire by Graceland executives questioning the authenticity of some of its items.
• NBC News spoke to Joel Weinshanker, a managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, about GWS Auctions, the auction house owned by Brigitte Kruse - who is also one of four people named in Priscilla’s lawsuit filed earlier alleging financial elder abuse.
• Weinshanker says he first became suspicious of the auction house when he noticed a black grommet jacket, worn by Elvis in 1972, listed for sale. However, he claimed the jacket was hanging in Graceland’s private collection.
“We know there was only one made, and guess what? We have it in our archives,” Weinshanker said. NBC News noted that it visited Elvis’ estate in Memphis and saw the jacket and its receipt.
• Other memorabilia items being sold by GWS Auctions that Graceland executives are questioning include multiple pieces of Elvis’ jewelry and his private jet, which Elvis’ estate claimed he never actually flew on and only owned for a few months.
• Graceland execs said they’re also concerned about some items being sold by GWS Auctions that are accompanied by letters written by Priscilla Presley stating they are authentic. Elvis’ estate said this is a big problem, since some of the objects would have been owned by Elvis after he and Priscilla divorced (they were married from 1967 to 1972) and they had no receipts showing the initial purchases.
“If they hadn’t talked for months and months and months in person, how does she [Priscilla] know what Elvis did and didn’t do?” Weinshanker told NBC News.
• Priscilla went into business with GWS Auctions and Kruse around 2021, even doing interviews to vouch for the auction house. “I want fans and people who love Elvis to know it is authentic,” Presley told Reuters in 2022. “There’s so much product out there that is not authentic at all and that worries me.”
• Kruse allegedly began helping with Priscilla’s finances and acting as her power of attorney after the two developed a close friendship. Kruse was also apparently very involved in the estate dispute settlement between Priscilla and granddaughter Riley Keough, even listed in the documents. Kruse has since trashed Keough on her social media, and claimed in her lawsuit that Lisa Marie Presley was in the process of suing Priscilla around the time of her death in January 2023.
• Kruse sued Priscilla in September 2023, not long after the estate settlement and being cut off by Priscilla for alleged misappropriation of funds, for breach of contract and is seeking unspecified damages. She alleged Priscilla was about 60 days away from financial collapse and saved her from insolvency.
• A week ago, Priscilla countersued Kruse and three others for allegedly misappropriating her funds. She claims they directed all of the revenue from Priscilla’s business ventures into accounts they controlled and also withdrew $40,000 from a bank account belonging to Priscilla’s son Navarone for “no legitimate reason.” She also is accusing Kruse and the other participants of elder abuse and wants $1 million in damages and her contracts with Kruse voided.
• Weinshanker noted that throughout the years, Elvis’ father, Vernon Presley, kept detailed records of all of the singer’s finances.
“Because he had some trouble with the law early on in his adult life, he [Vernon] kept everything, every receipt,” Weinshanker explained. “You come to us and say, ‘What did [Elvis] do on this day in 1962?’ We [Graceland] pretty much know what he did just by how he spent money.”
• NBC News noted that Graceland executives suggested a gold pendant auctioned off and verified by Priscilla would have come into the rocker’s possession and been gifted to Colonel Tom Parker, the manager, before Priscilla entered Elvis' life. A pair of gold “Aloha From Hawaii” snowman cufflinks would have been purchased for Parker at a time when he and Priscilla were separated. Graceland said it has no receipts for the items.
• Kruse argues that while she acknowledges the family’s meticulous record-keeping, she finds it hard to believe that every item Elvis owned was documented: “We weren’t there. None of us were there. So how can they without a doubt, unequivocally say, ‘We have everything?’ It’s an impossibility.”
She added that if Priscilla’s “personal recollections aren’t worth anything, then whose are?”
• In the NBC News interview- which took place before Priscilla filed her lawsuit- Kruse declined to go into detail on their falling out. But she defended her auction sales, saying she “100%” stood by her Elvis items, and she questioned why Weinshanker would go to the media rather than raise issues with her directly. Weinshanker said he did speak to Kruse about his concerns and he shared a text message exchange with NBC News that appeared to support the claim.
• GWS Auctions and Kruse received publicity when they auctioned off Elvis’ “lost jet." The red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar was described as “personally owned” by The King and “custom designed” to his specifications.
However, days before the auction, news stories popped up quoting a previous owner of the aircraft who said he was the one who redesigned its interior. The man said he had no idea where the story of Elvis being behind the redesign came from.
The jet sold for $430,000.
• When the jet was auctioned off again in 2023 by another auction house, the plane was no longer described as having been redesigned by Elvis but the listing did say it was one of three planes owned by Elvis and used to transport the singer. However, Elvis never flew on the plane, according to Graceland citing flight logs. If Graceland believed the plane was a significant part of Elvis’ past, “we would own it,” Weinshanker said.
• GWS Auctions stood by its account, and the sale went forward with Priscilla participating in the auction in Kissimmee, Florida days before Lisa Marie’s death. Priscilla even gave a brief speech just before bidding got underway. “He loved planes and this was one of them,” she said.
The winning bidder was YouTube star James Webb, who bought the plane for $260,000. In an interview with NBC News, Webb said that despite Priscilla’s presence at the auction and the way it was advertised online, he did not feel like he was duped.
• Kruse is currently claiming on YouTube that NBC (who has distribution business with EPE, in recent years airing an Elvis tribute special, and last year airing a Graceland Christmas special hosted by Elvis' granddaughter Riley Keough) is in partnership to push EPE's agenda and timed the segment release with Priscilla’s lawsuit, as well as cut parts of her interview which provided evidence, including records of sales and correspondence. She also claims Graceland is in competition with GWS Auctions and offered to authenticate GWS' items for a fee.
• Legal representatives for Kruse and another partner told The Hollywood Reporter via a statement: “The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla’s business partners last year. We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail. It saddens all of us who dropped our lives to provide aid to a woman who needed help and she is now attempting to use her celebrity status to ruin the lives of kind, hardworking people. Thank you to all of our supporters who have stood by us during this difficult time. We will continue to focus on our business and look forward to our day in court. The truth will come out by way of evidence and not rumors. There will be no further comment at this time as we respect the judicial process.”
• Weinshanker said he doesn’t think Priscilla intentionally tried to deceive potential buyers. “I believe that she lacked the capacity to make those decisions,” he said.
He added while Priscilla was always welcomed at Graceland, she continues to not be involved in business situations. Lisa Marie removed Priscilla as co-trustee of the estate and put her adult children- Riley and Benjamin- in charge in 2016, which led to the estate dispute with her granddaughter upon Lisa Marie’s death in 2023 (her grandson died in 2020). Elvis' property and the Graceland mansion are now owned by sole trustee Keough, as her mother intended, and Priscilla has not participated in Elvis events at Graceland for years.
• In the interview with NBC News, Kruse downplayed her falling out with Priscilla. “I always wish the best for Priscilla and her entire family. It’s a business dispute. They happen.”
“What I would love to see, more than anything, is everybody kind of working together,” she added. “I don’t want to do anything to hurt the fans or Elvis’ legacy.”
• Priscilla’s lawyers did not respond to a request for an interview or an email with detailed questions.
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