Sumner Redstone, suffering from dementia and speaking with great difficulty, repeatedly used a vulgar expression to describe his ex-girlfriend Manuela Herzer in a video deposition that aired in a trial here on Friday.
That testimony has put extra pressure on Herzer’s lawyers to demonstrate that the chairman emeritus of Viacom and CBS was lacking mental capacity or was under undue influence when he decided to oust Herzer from control over his healthcare.
“Your burden now is a hard one,” Judge David J. Cowan, of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, told Herzer’s lawyers.
According to a transcript of the video, Redstone, 92, repeatedly used expletives to describe Herzer, was able to recall that he booted her from his Los Angeles mansion, and clearly said the word “Shari” — the name of his daughter — when asked who he wanted to be responsible for his health decisions.
But Herzer’s attorney Pierce O’Donnell drew a different picture of Redstone’s deposition, describing him as “unable to answer even the simplest questions.”
Dr. Stephen Read, a psychiatrist who examined Redstone for Herzer’s legal team, testified Friday that Redstone’s replies in the deposition were “stereotypical statements” Redstone made without seeming to think about them.
In testimony that lasted well over an hour, Read described Redstone as “a very thin shadow” of his former self: suffering form dementia and delusions, completely unable to function on his own, and often angry or tearful at his physical and mental limitations.
At one point, Read said that Redstone enjoyed betting on sports, but did not know who the teams were. So family members ensured Redstone won every bet by showing him prerecorded games, the doctor said.
While the video of Redstone’s testimony was closed to the press and the public, audio heard through the courtroom door indicated that the media mogul could barely articulate simple words. Often times throughout the deposition he was asked to spell the word he was trying to say.
The questioning of Redstone was a key moment in a trial which could have major implications for his $40 billion media empire.
Herzer’s lawyers believe that Redstone’s daughter Shari, the vice-chairman of both the Viacom and CBS boards, plotted to get Herzer out of the picture in order to shore up her standing as heir apparent to her father’s empire.
Redstone’s lawyers argue that Herzer, 51, and Sydney Holland, another former girlfriend, took advantage of the ailing media mogul in order to gain access to his wealth.
A ruling by Cowan, who is presiding over a trial without a jury, that Redstone is incompetent would also open the door to a power struggle over control his media empire.
A settlement with Herzer was agreed upon earlier this year, but collapsed, sending the case to trial.