Having penned some of the most iconic stories comics has to offer, unfortunately, the joyful nature of his writing didn’t translate into the final years of Stan Lee’s life, which were allegedly marked with elder abuse. Despite proving to be one of the most wholesome additions to the Infinity Saga, the legendary author was struggling with age-related illness behind the scenes.
Stan Lee in Avengers: Age of Ultron | Credit: Marvel Studios
Apparently, some of his closest collaborators allegedly exploited Lee’s deteriorating mental state during his final years, most notably Keya Morgan, who was at the center of the controversy.
Keya Morgan was charged for allegedly exploiting Stan Lee
Having been business partners with Lee for a decade, Keya Morgan was accused of elder abuse and charged with “theft, embezzlement, forgery or fraud against an elder adult, and false imprisonment of an elder adult”. This stemmed from the allegations of Morgan apparently pocketing $222K by pushing Lee into autograph-signing sessions, and the latter’s daughter even filed a restraining order against Morgan on behalf of her father in 2018.
From Keya Morgan’s Instagram | Credit: keya_morgan/IG
But amidst the accusations of alleged profiteering of Lee, per Variety, Judge George Lomeli dropped the charges against Keya Morgan in 2022 after a decision from the jury was split 11:1 in favor of acquitting the accused.
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Lawyer Alex Kessel, whose client previously denied the accusations, added, “I think the judge made the right call so my client can go on with his life”, after being tried on three felony counts of grand theft from an elder.
Jon Bolerjack claims Stan Lee asked him to unveil the truth
Captain America: Civil War | Credit: Marvel Studios
Although the jury acquitted Morgan’s case, the new documentary, which claims to unmask the ugly truth behind Stan Lee‘s exploitation during his final years, has opened a whole new can of worms.
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Jon Bolerjack, who has now launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring the documentary to light, claimed that the legendary author gave him permission to bring the story to light, adding (via Comicbook):
Stan didn’t feel shame. He wanted this known.
However, given the nature of Bolerjack’s Kickstarter campaign, which comprises a plethora of reward tiers, it’s hard to tell if the motivation regarding this expose is coming from a place of good intention or not. All in all, the entire affair is just sad, and hopefully, the expose, which is currently locked behind a paywall for some reason, will bring some justice to the table.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
