Herbalife After Death
Darcy La Pier walked away in February with $34 million of the estimated $100 million left by her late husband, Herbalife founder Mark Hughes. Now one of his ex-wives has launched a legal challenge to the estate on behalf of her 9-year-old son, Alex, who is Hughes’ sole heir.
Suzan Hughes, a former Miss Petite U.S.A., worked as a court reporter, stand-up comedian and soap actress before marrying Hughes. The couple were married 11 years and divorced in 1998.
Her suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses the estate’s three trustees of conflict of interest and “an outrageous and brazen display of self-dealing” in handling the estate. She asks the court to remove them, saying they have enriched themselves at Alex’s expense.
Trustee Christopher Pair, Herbalife’s chief executive, draws a salary of $3.1 million, including a $180,000 annual car allowance, according to the suit. Two other trustees, Conrad Klein, an executive vice president at the company, and Jack Reynolds, its board chairman, make more than $600,000 a year. Reynolds is Mark Hughes’ father, according to court papers.
Suzan Hughes maintains that their corporate positions place the three in conflict of interest. Her suit claims the value of the estate, once estimated at $350 million, has dwindled through mismanagement. She also claims the trustees violated their duty through “their animosity to Alex and his mother.” As an example, she cites their refusal to turn over a go-cart and Hughes’ favorite shirt to his son.
The trustees insist they were personally appointed by Mark Hughes, while trust documents expressly excluded Suzan Hughes from any rights to or control of the trust.
“Suzan Hughes was engaged in a legal battle with Mark Hughes from the day that he told her he was filing for divorce until the day he died,” Klein said. “This lawsuit is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to obtain what she was unable to in her prenuptial agreement, divorce settlement or in subsequent letters, threats and actions while Mark Hughes was alive.”
Mark Hughes died a year ago of a lethal combination of alcohol and an antidepressant. His estate controls about 13 million shares of Herbalife common stock.
The Name Game
We always took David Duchovny for a natural-fibers kind of guy lost in an alien world. But when we ran his name through our computer spell checker, it spit out his name as David Dacron. Sweet Renee Zellweger came up as Renee Sullener. Britney Spears was a salty Brine Spears; Quentin Tarantino, that darned Quentin Tarnation. Melanie Griffith became Melanite Griffith; Kevin Costner, Kevin Coaster.
Puff Daddy passed muster, but P. Diddy did not; the program preferred P. Diddly. Suge Knight, the rap mogul with the rap sheet, isn’t gonna like this, but the program insisted he was a boy named Sue. Johnny Depp became Johnny Dieppe for reasons known only to the computer. Is it because he moved to France? Rosie O’Donnell became Rose O’Connell, and her chat-show competition, Oprah Winfrey, a chilly Oprah Wintry.
Fans of Gwyneth Paltrow were dispatched on Gwynedd Patrol--we assume somewhere in Wales. Our computer speller said brash Courtney Love has learned her manners; it declared her Courtesy Love. Eminem was transformed into the more glam Ermine. And, our hair was officially declared a natural disaster because Frederic Fekkai came up Frederica FEMA. As for the original letter turner, Vanna White, the program knew her as Vanda White.
Fortunately, real human beings in our newspaper library are always on call.
Speaking of Spelling . . .
A security guard has sued entertainment executive Aaron Spelling and a construction company, claiming he suffered permanent injuries when he “stepped into a void” while patrolling the grounds of Spelling’s mega-manse in Holmby Hills. Toby Logan, of Palmdale, blames a dug-up sidewalk. He says in court papers filed in Santa Monica that he was “rendered sick, sore, lame and disabled” after his fall. No immediate comment from Spelling.
Speechifying
“Two years into it, they kicked me out, or disinvited me, as I prefer to call it,” said “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer, accepting an honorary degree from Juilliard. “With this, the noble bones of my ancestors can finally rest in peace.”
Fred Rogers kicked off his address to Middlebury College grads in Vermont by singing his signature “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” The star of PBS’ longest-running series picked up an honorary degree and waxed philosophical: “The outside things of life are not the really important things. It’s our insides that make up who we are, that allow us to dream and wonder and feel for others.”
Can you say baccalaureate? Sure, you can.
Sightings
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, drawing a crowd at Lucques in West Hollywood. . . . Anne Heche, cradling a tiny dog while shopping at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. . . . Laurence Fishburne, dining at Manderette in West Hollywood. . . . Drew Barrymore and Tom Green, stepping out of an older-model Volvo on 3rd Street near Beverly Hills. . . . Jenna Elfman and Gillian Anderson, enjoying complimentary seats at the Dave Matthews Band concert in Los Angeles. . . . Macy Gray, watching the Lakers game with friends at Belly on Santa Monica Boulevard.
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Times staff writers Louise Roug and Gina Piccalo contributed to this report. City of Angles runs Tuesday-Friday. E-mail: angles@latimes.com.
