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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Paul Newman’s daughters are suing their late father’s foundation over a funding rift. The foundation gets its funding from Newman’s food and drink products.
Susan
Kendall Newman and Nell Newman, both daughters of the deceased actor, allege
Newman’s Own Foundation has improperly cut its mandated contributions to their
own charities from $400,000 apiece per year to $200,000 each annually,
according to The Associated Press.
The lawsuit
filed Tuesday in a state court in Stanford, Connecticut is seeking $1.6 million
in damages to be donated to their foundations for charitable giving, The
Associated Press reported.
Paul Newman
died two years after starting Newman’s Own Foundation in 2008. The daughters
argue that their father allowed the foundation to use his name and likeness on
some conditions including giving each of the two daughters’ foundations
$400,000 a year.
The two
Newman allege the foundation is planning to deny them of having a say in how
some of profits from Newman’s Own products are donated to charities. They
accused the foundation of “contradicting” their father’s wishes and intentions
for years, according to The Associated Press.
“No one
should have to feel that the legacy of a departed loved one is being dishonored
in the way that Newman’s Own Foundation has disregarded the daughters of Paul
Newman,” Andy Lee, a New York City attorney for the daughters, said in a
statement, The Associated Press reported.
“This lawsuit does not seek personal
compensation for Mr. Newman’s daughters, but simply seeks to hold (Newman’s Own
Foundation) accountable to the charities they have shortchanged in recent years
and would ensure they receive an increased level of support in the future, in
line with Mr. Newman’s wishes,” he said.
In a
statement Newman’s Own Foundation said “best practices surrounding
philanthropic organizations do not allow for the establishment of perpetual
funding allotments for anyone, including Nell and Susan Newman,” according to
The Associated Press. “A meritless lawsuit based on this faulty wish would only
divert money away from those who benefit from Paul Newman’s generosity.”
“While we
expect to continue to solicit Newman family recommendations for worthy
organizations, our funding decisions are made each year and will continue to
reflect the clear aim of Paul Newman and our responsibility to the best
practices governing private foundations.”
The suit
allege that Newman’s Own Foundation wrote to them only four days after their
father’s death, saying it would reserve the right to stop allocating funds to
charities identified by the daughters which it argued contradicted Paul Newman’s
explicit instructions to the foundation, according to The Associated Press.
In 1982
Newman created the Newman’s Own brand with all profits going to charities,
according to The Associated Press. He lived in Westport with his wife at the
time, actor Joanne Woodward. Some of the product line includes frozen pizza,
salsa, salad dressings and pasta sauces as well as dog food and pet treats.