Harry Belafonte sues Martin Luther King Jr.'s estate
- 11 years ago
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
U.S. singer and social activist Harry Belafonte has filed a lawsuit against the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. over an ownership dispute of documents that Belafonte said were given to him by the late civil rights leader and his wife, according to court documents filed on Tuesday (October 15).
The documents in dispute are an outline of the "Casualties of the War in Vietnam" speech that Belafonte said he has had since 1967, the "Memphis Speech" that was undelivered, found in one of King's suit pockets after his death, and a condolence letter from President Lyndon Johnson sent to King's widow after his assassination in 1968.
King's estate and daughter Bernice King disputed Belafonte's ownership of the documents when the singer took the items to Sotheby's auction house in New York to be appraised and put up for sale in 2008, the lawsuit said.
Sotheby's have retained the documents since 2008 a
U.S. singer and social activist Harry Belafonte has filed a lawsuit against the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. over an ownership dispute of documents that Belafonte said were given to him by the late civil rights leader and his wife, according to court documents filed on Tuesday (October 15).
The documents in dispute are an outline of the "Casualties of the War in Vietnam" speech that Belafonte said he has had since 1967, the "Memphis Speech" that was undelivered, found in one of King's suit pockets after his death, and a condolence letter from President Lyndon Johnson sent to King's widow after his assassination in 1968.
King's estate and daughter Bernice King disputed Belafonte's ownership of the documents when the singer took the items to Sotheby's auction house in New York to be appraised and put up for sale in 2008, the lawsuit said.
Sotheby's have retained the documents since 2008 a