Robbie Robertson’s death in 2023 is still having ramifications for The Band musician’s children as they are still locked in legal wranglings with Robertson’s widow. According to the LA Times, Robertson and Janet Zuccarini were married only months before he died.
His three adult children, Alexandra, Delphine and Sebastian Robertson, feel that the restaurateur took advantage of the songwriter’s declining health and had him sign documents that would benefit her after he died.
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The lawsuit’s main focus is the former home of David Geffen in Beverly Hills. The couple purchased the home for $6 million, splitting the home 50/50 despite Robertson putting a down payment of $1.8 million on his own. His reported intent was for his children to own his house, with the option to sell to Zuccarini, buy her share, or jointly sell it. The suit alleges this didn’t happen.
According to the LA Times, Zuccarini told the other members of the family that “she was entitled to reside in the Property until her death – and that [Robertson’s heirs] were required to pay, from what would have been their modest inheritance, the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and half of the daily property maintenance expenses for the duration of her life.”
The claim comes from an amendment made to their “Tenant in Common” agreement from when they moved into the home. The amendment was signed in March 2023, only 5 months before Robertson would pass away.
His heirs are arguing that Robertson’s 2022 surgery for cancer left the musician impaired, claiming he used “powerful opioids, THC and antipsychotics to manage his pain and stimulate his appetite,” according to the lawsuit (Via the LA Times). “These drugs he was taking, in the period of time when Zuccarini was arranging the secret wedding and having him sign oppressive documents, are known to have significant effects on cognition, including confusion, hallucinations, torpor, depression, memory loss, and dissociation.”
Zuccarini’s lawyer called the lawsuit, “meritless fiction” and didn’t mince words about where the intent lies. “This is a gross and exploitative attempt by Robbie Robertson’s children to eviscerate their father’s expressed wishes for his beloved wife Janet,” Gabrielle A. Vidal said in a statement.
