Heavy/Getty Flowers on grave
Seven months after Lisa Marie Presley’s shocking death at age 54, it’s still hard for her mom Priscilla Presley to believe she’s gone. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter regarding the upcoming Sofia Coppola biopic about her life, the actress and “Dancing With The Stars” alum opened up about the days leading up to her daughter’s January 2023 death as well as the public scrutiny over legal filings regarding the future of her ex-husband Elvis Presley’s estate.
“I still can’t believe it. I don’t wish this on any mother,” she said of Lisa Marie’s sudden death, which the Los Angeles County medical examiner determined was caused by small bowel obstruction, per NBC News, a complication that developed “after bariatric surgery years ago.”
In the Hollywood Reporter interview published on August 23, Priscilla admitted that in the days leading up to Lisa Marie’s death, “I did know there was something not right.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Priscilla Presley Says She Knew Something Was ‘Not Right’ Before Lisa Marie Presley’s Death
GettyPriscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley in 2013
Lisa Marie died after collapsing at her Los Angeles home and being rushed to the hospital on January 12, as first reported by TMZ. Two nights before, on January 10, she attended the Golden Globes with her mom, according to ET, to celebrate the success of the 2022 “Elvis” movie and see Austin Butler win the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture.
A musician like her famous father, Lisa Marie had spent the previous week celebrating the movie, including making a visit to Graceland in Memphis, the home where she lived with her parents as a child, and where she is now buried.
Multiple media outlets reported that Lisa Marie seemed “unsteady” on the red carpet before the Golden Globes, especially when she needed to grab family friend Jerry Schilling during her interview with Extra TV.
Priscilla confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that her daughter was not feeling well that night.
“I did know there was something not right,” she said, recounting how they went together to the Chateau Marmont to celebrate after the show.
“We had just gotten there, you go down all these stairs,” Priscilla recalled. “I tripped a little bit because I had these high heels on, and she started laughing so hard. I started laughing. We hadn’t even had a drink yet. She goes, ‘Oh my God, Mom, you can’t even have a drink.'”
“It was fun, a fun memory,” she continued. “Then we sat down and ordered drinks, and she says, ‘Mom, my stomach hurts really bad.’ We immediately got up and left.”
When Lisa Marie’s ex-husband, Danny Keough, called her to say Lisa Marie was in the hospital, she didn’t reach the hospital quickly enough to say goodbye.
She said, “I got right in the car, but she was already gone.”
Priscilla Presley Says Reports of a Rift With Granddaughter Riley Keough Were Just Rumors
GettyLisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, and Riley Keough attend the Handprint Ceremony honoring their family in June 2022
After Lisa Marie’s death, one big question was what would happen to Graceland and Elvis Presley’s estate. In his will, the music legend named his daughter, who was just nine when he died in 1977, his only heir, per The Hollywood Reporter. Priscilla became a co-executor, helping to oversee the Elvis Presley estate. Priscilla helped turn Graceland, their family home, into a museum and signed licensing deals that now bring in more than $100 million per year, the outlet said.
But in the days after Lisa Marie’s death, Priscilla learned that Lisa Marie had supposedly amended her will in 2016, naming her eldest children, actress Riley Keough and her son Benjamin Keough (who died by suicide in 2020), as trustees instead of her mom and the family’s former business manager, Barry Siegel.
According to CBS News, Priscilla filed a petition on January 28 questioning the “authenticity and validity” of the altered will. There were many press reports that the move created a huge rift between Priscilla and Keough. But in May, attorneys for both women said they had reached an agreement over the estate.
Priscilla told The Hollywood Reporter all is well between her and her granddaughter.
“Riley is now the executor, which should be right, obviously, being (Lisa Marie’s) daughter,” Priscilla said. “Riley and I are on good terms. We were never not on good terms. That was all publicity. This is private and this is not something to fool around with and say that we’re not agreeing. In fact, I’m having dinner with (Riley) tonight. We understand what needs to be done. I’m there for her. She knows that. She wants me there for her to help her.”
In an August interview with Vanity Fair, Keough agreed, saying, “Things with Grandma will be happy. They’ve never not been happy. She was a huge part of creating my grandfather’s legacy and Graceland. He was the love of her life. Anything that would suggest otherwise in the press makes me sad because, at the end of the day, all she wants is to love and protect Graceland and the Presley family and the legacy.”
Coppola’s feature film, “Priscilla,” was already in postproduction when Lisa Marie died, she told The Hollywood Reporter. It is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 4 before it’s released in theaters on October 27.