Stan Lee elder-abuse claims: Sorting out the shocking allegations engulfing Marvel legend

Stan Lee is either “in need of a superhero himself,” as a friend told the Hollywood Reporter for a lengthy story on Tuesday, or he’s fine, as the comic book legend himself declared in a video he sent to TMZ two days later. Either way, Lee’s living situation and the management of his $50 million-plus estate is making headlines. The situation is complicated, with enough characters and drama to fill a book, and time is of the essence in addressing whatever’s going on — if something is, in fact, going on — since Lee is 99.

Why is this coming up now?
Since Lee’s wife, Joan, died on July 6, 2017, several unsettling events have happened to her famous widower, and not just the health problems that can be expected with a person of Lee’s age. Since December, TMZ has reported police investigations of the disappearance of millions from Lee’s bank account, in at least three separate incidents. Police officers showed up at Lee’s home in February when a former employee allegedly refused to leave. His production company, Pow! Entertainment, told the Los Angeles Police Department that his daughter and Keya Morgan, the man who controls his affairs, showed up at his offices “in the middle of the night” on March 15 and “removed several items,” even though Lee continues to have access to the facility. (Morgan reportedly provided a video of Lee saying he asked him and his daughter to retrieve some of his belongings.) Then Bleeding Cool reported that, at last week’s Silicon Valley Comic Con, fans referred to Lee’s appearance as “Weekend at Stan Lee’s.” After this week’s stories from THR and TMZ, the paper of record, the New York Times, covered it too.

The unlikely social media star even shared a letter from Pow! Entertainment addressing the issue, although it didn’t shed much light on it.