Naomi Judd’s Estate Just Got Sued

It has been a year since the death of Naomi Judd, and now the late country music iconic’s estate is being sued. According to The Blast, Judd’s former manager, Michael P. Dolan, is suing her estate in Chancery Court in Williamson County, Tennessee. The nature of his suit is over alleged unpaid commissions, which he claims date back more than two decades.

In the suit, Dolan claims that he earned “a 6% gross revenue commission for my personal management and executive producer services rendered in connection with The Judds’ Reunion Power to Change CBS special that was taped for broadcast on April 7, 2000, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.” He goes on to state that he paid some of what he was owed, but he believes he earned much more. “As part of this claim, I hereby request that an accounting be performed to determine any and all monies or revenue that has been received from any exploitation of the CBS Special since August 14, 2000, and provided to me,” Dolan writes in legal documents. At this time, Judd’s estate does not appear to have issued a statement on the lawsuit.

Judd performed in a country music duo with her eldest daughter, Wynonna, for many years. The beloved singer died on April 30, 2022, a day that her youngest daughter Ashley Judd calls the “most shattering day” of her life. Following Naomi’s death, Wynonna and Ashley issued a joint statement, saying, “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.” Notably, on the same weekend, Naomi and Wynonna were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. 

During the induction ceremony, Wynonna and Ashley spoke about their late mother. “My momma loved you so much and she appreciated your love for her and I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” Ashley said while fighting tears. “My heart’s broken and I feel so blessed,” Wynonna added. “At 2:20, I kissed her on the forehead and I walked away and this is the first place I’ve been. The last thing we did together as a family was with her, we all gathered around her and we said, ‘The Lord is my shepherd.’” Naomi Judd was 76 years old at the time of her death.