Pawn Stars mom Joanne Harrison has filed a restraining order against her son, reality TV star Rick Harrison, whom she recently sued for allegedly signing a majority stake in the family business while she was in the hospital recovering from a coma.
According to her lawsuit, Joanne Harrison, 81, has filed additional legal action against Rick, 56, who stars in the popular reality show Pawn Stars, in an attempt to stop him from “siphoning off” assets.
The family-owned store, the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, was the subject of a 2009 History Channel series.
Rick paid his mother $25,000 a month regularly for years, but that all stopped in 2020, Joanne claims in her lawsuit.
On Monday, she requested a temporary restraining order and filed an application to stop her son Rick from withholding benefits, transferring or hiding money or assets, or doing anything else that could diminish her interest in the family business, KSN.com reported.
On Monday, Joan Harrison (pictured with her late husband Richard) requested a temporary restraining order and filed an application to prevent her son Rick from stopping regular $25,000 payments she has received for years.
Joanna has requested a temporary restraining order against her 56-year-old son, Rick Harrison (pictured), who claims his mother is being manipulated by “people who don’t care about her best interests.”
“While Rick enjoys his comfortable celebrity life, firmly in control of all family businesses and finances, Joanna remains fearful and uncertain about whether she will have enough resources to pay for her significant medical and personal expenses every month,” Joanne’s request. He speaks.
“In particular, Joanna is 81 years old and has a range of health issues that require around the clock care and supervision. If Rick were to arbitrarily cut Joanna’s monthly income again, it would expose Joanna to immediate and serious risk of irreparable medical harm, which by definition cannot be repaired in monetary terms at the conclusion of this litigation,” the request reads.
But the restraining order demand was news to Rick, who claims he only learned about it from the news.
He also claims his mother is being manipulated by “those who don’t care about her best interests,” Harrison told 8Newsnow.com via a rep.
“Over the past few months, I have tried many times to contact her, but have not been able to,” said Harrison. “In fact, one of the companies she’s suing is 100 percent owned by my mother.”
In February, Joanna sued Rick over family assets and ownership of the Gold & Silver pawnshop in Las Vegas (pictured).
In 2020, the Gold & Silver pawnshop experienced a huge success, with revenue dropping from over $1 million to just $37,000.
Joanna’s husband, Richard “Old Man” Harrison (pictured), died in 2018. Initially, the couple created an operating organization for a Las Vegas pawnshop, in which Richard owned 49 percent and Joanne 51 percent.
Joanna’s lawyers added that they plan to file an additional injunction in connection with a family dispute that began when Joanna sued her son on February 24.
Harrison claims Rick broke a long-standing agreement when he stopped sending her money from her husband Richard’s share of the business, which she inherited when he died in 2018 after 58 years of marriage.
The couple set up an operating organization for a pawnshop, in which Richard owned 49 percent and Joanne 51 percent.
But according to the lawsuit, in 2000 or 2001, Rick – one of the couple’s three sons – took advantage of Joanna while she was in the hospital and gave him her 51 percent stake in the pawnshop.
“About 2000 or 2001, Joanna was in a coma and was being cared for in the intensive care unit at Valley Hospital,” the lawsuit says. “While Joanna was in the hospital recovering from her coma, Rick apparently forced her to give him her 51 percent stake in the pawnshop. At the time, Joanna did not know and did not fully understand what she allegedly signed.
Joanna claims that after her husband’s death in 2018, she inherited her husband’s stake in the pawnshop, but Rick was unable to provide her with full documentation of his finances.
“Joanna believes that Rick failed to give Joan payments commensurate with her proper interest in the pawnshop,” the lawsuit says.
Joanna claims that she is entitled to much more than what she gets.
According to the lawsuit, the 81-year-old woman’s expected monthly payments of $25,000 stopped and she received just $85,000 in 2020.
Rick Harrison, in the foreground, who starred in the hit History Channel reality show Pawn Stars (pictured)
Joanna wants more money to pay for her medical care, which she says is up to $15,000 a month.
Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that in 2020, the Gold & Silver pawnshop was hit hard by the pandemic, earning just $37,406. In the years prior, the business was bringing in over $1 million a year: $1.6 million in 2018 and $1.3 million in 2019.
Even though the business suffered in 2020, the family trust still received a total of $790,083, although significantly less than Rick’s $1,956,621, Joanne claims.
Joanna says her son’s stake was larger than his stake in the company.
According to court documents, Joanna alleges that her son transferred her money without her permission and took out a $3 million loan using her assets as collateral.
The 81-year-old woman also claims she failed to properly account for the more than $500,000 in silver and $100,000 in cash her late husband accumulated before his death.
The lawsuit alleges Rick breached contract and fiduciary duty. Joanna seeks transparency, unspecified damages, and injunctions.