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Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
It was the 2014 Christmas season, and 87-year-old Tom Benson was growing more forgetful, thanks in part to pain medication he was taking after a series of recent knee surgeries.
Family tensions were running high, too. Rita LeBlanc, Benson’s granddaughter, had been feuding with his wife, Gayle. It had gotten so bad that Gayle had written up a list reminding the twice-widowed Benson why he should be aggrieved – not just toward Rita, but also his grandson Ryan and his daughter Renee. https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.town...7b41.image.jpg Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the family patriarch, Rita had secretly recorded a conversation she had with him about why her mother, Renee, had contacted Benson’s bookkeeper directly, instead of going through him. It was amid this poisonous climate that the owner of the NFL’s Saints and NBA’s Pelicans finally decided to cut out the “3 R’s” – Rita, Renee and Ryan – and make Gayle the heir to his billion-dollar business empire. The move, which seemed sudden to the public, kicked off a convoluted legal battle pitting Benson against his daughter and her children, who once had been in position to inherit everything but were now fired from their jobs and cut off from the head of their family. The most bitter episode of the saga was their unsuccessful attempt to convince a New Orleans civil court judge that he should restore their standing with Benson on the grounds that he was too mentally enfeebled to alter his succession plans. That case largely played out in secret. Judge Kern Reese prohibited attorneys from speaking about it, and the proceedings included a highly unusual, closed-door trial that took place over eight days in June 2015. Nearly all of the pleadings were kept under seal. Reese ultimately ruled against the LeBlancs and in favor of Benson, the state’s richest man. Two higher courts left that decision in place, paving the way for Gayle to take over the Saints and Pelicans following her husband’s death in March at age 90. Quote:
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
Rita may be a twit, but she got played by a smarter gold digger in Gayle; don't buy for one minute what the local, intimidate media pitches...
Rita was used as the kinder, warmer future face of the franchise by her grandfather after his gaffe trying to move the team post-Katrina... Rita was promised running the team and the old man, swayed by types like Lauscha, Loomis, Bensel, was convinced to renege on that promise... Rita is full of passion, spirit and that was used against her. Renee Benson is an imbecile for not advising her daughter better in this power game... Look at the judges that oversaw the case at ever level, obvious conflicts of interests, the biased procedural moves - the LA judicial system is overtly corrupt... |
Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
Like watching re-runs of Dallas.
So who is showing up for the Thanksgiving at the Bensons this year. |
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
You know, Gayle's no spring chicken; why no published reports re: Saints Ownership A.G.? Does the NFL have that transition plan on file?
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
Rita turned out to be a ***** that no one could work with. She went through assistants like Kleenex.
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I know people don’t want to hear it because they think Gayle is more likely to keep the team in New Orleans but it’s true. That’s really all I care about anyway. Don’t think Gayle is some sweet old lady who just wanted what was best for her husband. |
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
I’m glad Gayle has it. I think the team is more secure in New Orleans in her hands than Rita’s. I have no doubt Rita would have moved them first chance she got. I am not buying into the illusion that Gayle had Benson’s best interest in hand for one second.
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These folks live and operate in an elite league all of their own. It's almost impossible to comprehend the amount of money that's involved in the
Benson Empire. Us Commoners can only watch and hope that when the dust settles that the Saints stay in Louisiana.. |
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Also, if my grandfather were a billionaire and decided to take me out of his will, I wouldn't sue him. What kind of family does this?? Benson is a self-made man and earned every penny that he owns. He can do whatever he wants with his fortune, even if it's done with an "unsound" mind. Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk |
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You want access to the Saints, you write what you're told to write or you're sitting across the street in the Winn Dixie Parking Lot on Airline... Before Gayle, there were fluff stories about Rita's business saavy and moxie with the Voodoo; all kinds of celebrity pieces in social rags... Rita was the attractive, saving-grace face, restore the good will look the Saints needed after Tommy tried to move the team Post-Katrina... Once Rita wasn't needed and Gayle moved in, one-by-one Gayle moved out every person close to Benson not on the Gayle train, and then Rita was done... And then came the hit pieces, and those writers were suddenly getting access to Payton, Loomis, key team players... No Rita wasn't a Saint [sic], but she did get out-played by Gayle who used very greedy, shady organization folks who got job security and a little laignappe... |
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I'd been hated cause Payton would've quit, I'd been worse than Jerruh Jones come draft time... Actually, after firing Haslett, I'd retained McCarthy and drafted Rodgers - it'd been an alternate Bizarro world for sure... ;) |
Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
I don't think any of us will truly know what went on between the LeBlanc family and Mr. and Mrs. Benson. Based on what was said in the article about Benson's court outbursts, it does seem like he did have control of his faculties.That doesn't mean he still couldn't have been manipulated. He was in love and there are cases where people who are manipulative can take advantage of someone who is too smitten and overcome by love to see how dangerous that person they are infatuated with are. I do agree with those who say that Rita and Gayle both had their hands dirty.
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
ROGERS? WAYNE OR MR. ? BIZARRO WORLD INDEED!
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Re: Outbursts in court, secret recordings: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle
Bizzaro Jerry was one of the very better episodes...
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