Music and film mogul David Geffen says his estranged husband fabricated abuse and sexual exploitation claims as part of a “a ludicrous and contrived attempt to humiliate Geffen in the court of public opinion and extract an out-of-court settlement.”
The accusations come in Geffen’s first legal filing responding to the bombshell lawsuit brought last month by the media executive’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Donovan Michaels, a former exotic dancer 50 years his junior. The pair is in the midst of divorce proceedings after less than two years of marriage.
Michaels (whose real name is David Armstrong) alleges in the lawsuit that Geffen treated him as a “sexual commodity” for years, only to later leave him destitute and tossed aside “like a used object.” But the mogul argues on Wednesday (Aug. 13) that these claims are a “work of fiction” designed to “extort Geffen by publicly shaming him.”
“Plaintiff cannot embarrass Geffen and extort a settlement with petty gossip and salacious lies,” writes Geffen’s attorney Patricia Glaser. “Unfortunately for plaintiff, Geffen has the integrity, ability and strength to litigate this case in a court of law (rather than in the press) where plaintiff’s fabricated claims cannot succeed.”
Geffen says Michaels’ central claim — that he promised to provide “lifetime” financial support for Michaels no matter what — is a complete lie. No such promises were ever made, Geffen argues, and Michaels won’t be able to corroborate his allegations with any written documentation or witnesses.
All the other claims in Michaels’ lawsuit are lies, too, according to Geffen’s answering brief. Geffen says there was no abuse in the couple’s relationship, and that he treated Michaels with “nothing but kindness, respect and generosity.”
If anything, says Geffen, Michaels was the one to take advantage of him by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars from the mogul’s coffers on luxury clothing, cosmetics, extravagant vacations, cosmetic surgery, OnlyFans subscriptions and sex workers.
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And while Michaels’ lawsuit claims Geffen plied him with drugs as a tool of coercion, Wednesday’s court filing says this could not be further from the truth.
“The allegations in the complaint that Geffen encouraged or even was aware of plaintiff’s illicit drug habit are a pure fabrication,” writes Glaser. “Plaintiff hid his drug use from Geffen for years. Plaintiff regularly used ketamine, cocaine and perhaps other illegal drugs. Geffen does not.”
Michaels’ attorneys did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday (Aug. 15).
With a net worth reportedly over $9 billion, Geffen has long been one of the entertainment industry’s wealthiest figures. He launched the influential labels Asylum Records and Geffen Records, as well as animation powerhouse DreamWorks Pictures.
According to Michaels’ lawsuit, he and Geffen met in 2016 through the website SeekingArrangements.com. Michaels says Geffen initially paid him for sex, but that the relationship later evolved into a serious romantic partnership.
Geffen and Michaels married in 2023 without a prenuptial agreement. Geffen cited irreconcilable differences to file for divorce this past May, and marriage dissolution proceedings are continuing to be litigated separately from the civil case that Michaels initiated in July.
