Billionaire film mogul David Geffen sued by estranged husband Donovan Michaels
The 82-year-old film producer is accused of treating Donovan Michaels, 32, like a "living social experiment" during the couple's two-year marriage in a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Michaels has accused Geffen of breach of contract and alleges that the record executive kicked him out of their New York while he attended Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos's wedding to Lauren Sanchez in Venice last month and went back on a promise to give him lifelong financial support.
The lawsuit alleges that Geffen – who has an estimated net worth of $8.8 billion – used a "toxic mix of seduction, control, promises of love and lavish displays of wealth to entrap" Michaels in a loop of "dependency, submission and humiliation".
Patty Glaser, a partner at the law firm representing the film mogul, said: "There was no contract – express, written, oral or implied – that has ever existed. We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit."
The complaint says that Geffen met Michaels on the dating site SeekingArrangements.com in 2016 and paid him $10,000 for sex.
The couple married in a private Beverly Hills ceremony in 2023 and the complaint claims that Geffen did not seek a prenuptial agreement.
The DreamWorks co-founder filed for divorce in May, citing irreconcilable differences, and the pair had kept details of their separation private until Michaels filed his lawsuit.
The dancer – whose real name is David Armstrong – described himself in the lawsuit as a vulnerable young gay black man who had been exploited by a "wealthy, powerful white gay billionaire who believed himself untouchable".
Geffen is alleged to have criticised "every aspect of Michaels's appearance" and body hygiene that required him to get "painful" laser and dental treatments.
Michaels claims that he was frequently subjected to "back-handed insults and put-downs" about his "past and lack of sophistication".
He likened the pair's relationship to the plot of the movie Trading Places and alleges that Geffen treated him like "a living social experiment – a trophy to show off to his wealthy friends, under the guise of benevolence".
The lawsuit states: "Geffen told Michaels he loved him, and the two agreed to treat each other as life partners, share all assets equally and that Geffen would support Michaels financially for life.
"Michaels gave up his dreams – his modelling career, his independence – to dedicate himself fully to this promise."
The suit also alleges that Geffen ordered Michaels to "immediately vacate" the couple's New York home as he partied aboard his $400 million Rising Sun superyacht in the lead-up to the Bezos wedding.
It states that Michaels was left homeless as Geffen was "decadently and extravagantly partying and dancing the night away in Venice, Italy with the other 0.0001 per cent of the wealthiest people on the planet".
The complaint says: "While Geffen holds himself out to the public as an extraordinarily charitable man whose foundation gives millions and millions of dollars to advocacy and support groups for the homeless and disadvantaged populations, he is simultaneously endeavouring to render Michaels impoverished and homeless."
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