Tony Bennett's daughters say brother made millions through family trust 'mismanagement'
Tony Bennett's daughters are not relenting in their court battle over the late jazz singer's family trust.
Earlier this month, Antonia and Johanna Bennett filed an opposition to older brother Danny Bennett's November request to either transfer the case to a different court or dismiss the petition altogether, according to New York Supreme Court documents obtained by Paste BN Thursday.
Antonia and Johanna are petitioning the court to order an accounting of his financial activities as trustee because of his "history of making distributions to himself, engag(ing) in transactions in which he was on all sides of the deal," and the alleged lack of "meaningful oversight of his conduct."
Among their allegations is that Danny had spearheaded multiple business deals related to their father's career that benefitted his personal finances "substantially," yet they were not compensated adequately.
Bennett's other son, Daegal Anthony Bennett, and the singer's wife, Susan Crow, are also named in the memorandum, as they were in Antonia and Johanna's previous filing. However, the allegations of fiscal malpractice are leveled solely at Danny.
Paste BN has reached out to representatives for Danny Bennett for comment.
Tony Bennett family trust court battle, explained
In June 2024, Bennett's daughters filed a lawsuit against Danny, in which the women alleged mishandling of the singer's family trust and "failures to account for transactions and the assets" from the trust.
The Bennett family trust was created in December 1994. Bennett's children Johanna, Antonia and Daegal, and his wife Crow are all listed as beneficiaries. Bennett and Danny were named as trustees, according to court documents obtained by Paste BN at the time. Danny became the trust's sole trustee following Bennett's death in July 2023.
In their Jan. 3 memorandum opposing Danny's motion, Antonia and Johanna said, "Danny has provided only limited and incomplete information" in response to their lawsuit and continues to refuse their "request for an accounting."
"The family trust plainly establishes Tony's intent to treat his four children equally," the memorandum states. "It is critical that all beneficiaries of the family trust have an ability to examine Danny's conduct in order to ensure Tony's wishes are fulfilled."
A source familiar with the situation who is not authorized to speak publicly told Paste BN that "Tony and Danny Bennett have worked together for over 40 years, and the record of their successful partnership speaks for itself. Tony thoughtfully planned his estate to reflect his wishes and generously provided for his loved ones.
"Danny has always acted in Tony's best interest and has worked diligently to ensure his father's plans were honored and carried out. It is unfortunate and sad that some are choosing to dispute his decisions rather than honoring Tony’s legacy.'"
Tony Bennett's daughters allege brother received over $2M from business deal
Antonia and Johanna Bennett allege in their filing that Danny took a multimillion-dollar payday from a 2022 business deal.
In July 2022, Danny allegedly sold a combination of Bennett's personal property, memorabilia and "all of Tony's name and likeness" to the company Iconoclast, which specializes in the management and marketing of artists' legacy works, according to the women's June 2024 lawsuit.
While Bennett's daughters were made aware of the Iconoclast transaction, per the complaint, they were not informed about which of Bennett's assets were sold in the deal. Additionally, the women claimed they've only received "a single modest distribution" from the sale, which excludes proceeds that were allocated to the family trust and the family's LLC, Benedetto Arts, following the sale.
Additionally, Antonia and Johanna now claim Danny's company RPM Productions, an artist management and strategic marketing firm, allegedly made nearly $2.6 million in commissions from the Iconoclast deal, while the women have reportedly only received $245,000 each.
"Danny claims he entered the deal because Tony was in financial trouble," the memorandum states.
"However, records provided to (Antonia and Johanna) indicate that Tony still had millions of dollars at the time of the Iconoclast deal and, despite claiming that Tony was running out of money, Danny continued to make gifts to himself and his children with family trust assets and loan himself significant amounts from the family trust."
Tony Bennett's son allegedly made numerous 'self-payments' as trustee
In addition to his position as trustee, Danny took an active role in Bennett's financial affairs, including property and asset management for the company in which Bennett's children hold membership interests, Benedetto Arts, LLC. Danny also served as the singer's manager.
Antonia and Johanna allege in their memorandum that their brother unilaterally signed a management agreement in December 2022, acting in his various capacities as Bennett's attorney-in-fact, president of RPM Productions and trustee of the Bennett family trust. The deal purportedly benefitted Danny's personal finances "substantially."
One of the agreement's stipulations reportedly required a "non-returnable advance" of $50,000 monthly payments to RPM Productions, guaranteeing "substantial commission payments to Danny (via RPM) whether the commissions were earned or not," the memorandum states.
Bennett's daughters claim these "self-payments" also included "multiple checks" Danny allegedly wrote to himself, a series of monetary "gifts" using trust funds that amounted to $200,700 and a $200,000 advance commission to RPM Productions in 2021, which were separate from the $50,000 advances.
"Without more information about Tony's income, it is unclear whether the payments Danny was making to himself exceed what was contractually owed to him," the memorandum states. "Statements and management agreements provided by Danny indicate that commissions paid to RPM appear to have been much higher than they should have been based on Tony's income."
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 30, according to a review of court records by Paste BN.
This story has been updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
Contributing: Jay Stahl, Paste BN