Lisa Marie Presley’s ex-husband accused her of using Scientology against him in a bitter court case two weeks before her death.
Michael Lockwood, 61, said Presley, with whom he shares twin daughters, uses “fair game” tactics to thwart his attempts to get her to pay $40,000 a month in child support.
He said fair game meant that “any enemy can be lied to, cheated, tricked, or destroyed without discipline,” and Presley, who rejected Scientology, used it on him.
Lockwood wrote that he spent $1 million in legal fees to fight with Presley and that the strain on his finances may require him to file for bankruptcy.
The filing provides new insight into the pressures Presley, 54, Elvis Presley’s only daughter, has been under in her last few weeks.
Michael Lockwood and Lisa Marie Presley married in 2006 and had twin daughters in 2008 — before separating in a bitter divorce in 2016. They are pictured in 2015
In court filings filed last month, the now-bearded Lockwood demanded that Presley pay $40,000 a month in child support and claimed she was hiding her assets. He is pictured immediately after Lisa Marie’s death
The former couple share 14-year-old twin daughters, Finley and Harper, who are said to be severely traumatized by the sudden death of their mother. Pictured in 2017
Presley died last Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest in the $4 million Calabasas home she shared with her first husband Danny Keough. Her twins, Finley and Harper Lockwood, 14, and daughter Riley Keough, 33, are refusing to return because they are so traumatized by their deaths.
A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday at Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis, Tennessee. She was buried in the grounds on Thursday alongside her son Benjamin – who took his own life in 2020.
Lockwood, a musician who was Presley’s fourth husband, lost his offer to annul their prenuptial agreement in their 2016 divorce, but he reopened the case in 2021.
In court filings, he ordered her to pay $40,000 a month in child support and claimed she was hiding her assets.
The latest filing was added to the court record in Los Angeles on Dec. 28, when Lockwood accused Presley of using “shell companies” to hide her assets.
He claimed she failed to turn over basic financial records so her actual wealth could be assessed by a forensic accountant he hired.
Lockwood, who has custody of the twins, enclosed a bill from his attorneys, Yanny & Smith, totaling $48,000 to show how expensive it had been to fight with Presley.
He wrote: “I’ve had to change attorneys more than three times and I still owe my previous attorneys my bills that I don’t know how to ever pay and may have to fire them in bankruptcy.
“This story has cost me over a million dollars in legal fees. I’ve made well over $400-500,000 just fighting the malicious, frivolous, and false allegations against me in both the dependency court and this court.
“That is exactly what the petitioner tried to do. She threw me into debt, slandered me, tried to take my children away from me, and now, after many years of estrangement and fair game tactics, I am finally restoring my name and relationship with my children.
Lisa Marie claimed in 2017 that she “discovered disturbing and inappropriate photos of children on Lockwood’s computer.
“I was shocked and appalled and felt nauseous. As far as I know, Tennessee law enforcement is also conducting an investigation related to the photos and videos I discovered.
Lockwood was never charged.
The twins were briefly placed in the care of the California Department of Children and Family Services before Lisa Marie’s mother, Priscilla, took them in
Lisa Marie’s last public appearance was at the Golden Globes just two days before her death
“Graceland’s backyard is basically a graveyard,” Lisa Marie told Playboy in 2003. She is now buried alongside her father, grandparents and son
Lockwood accused Presley of employing Scientology “fair game” tactics, meaning that an “enemy can be lied to, cheated, tricked, or destroyed by any means.”
Lockwood, who has custody of the twins, enclosed a bill from his attorneys, Yanny & Smith, totaling $48,000 to show how expensive it had been to fight with Presley
Lockwood said that Presley was raised in a “particular belief system,” a thinly veiled reference to Scientology, which she joined at age 11 and left in 2014.
Presley turned against the faith and was set to be the star witness in the rape retrial against That 70s Show star and Scientologist Danny Masterson.
Lockwood wrote, “It is inevitable that she still holds some of the beliefs of this belief system, particularly the practice of ‘fair game’, which involves targeting ‘enemies’ through ruining reputation and other unethical behavior.
‘According to ‘Fair Game’ practice, an ‘enemy may be lied to, cheated, tricked or in any way destroyed without discipline’.
“I believe that’s what[Presley]did to me during our trial, with the willing assistance of her current attorney.”
In an interview, Leah Remini, the actress and former Scientologist who has become one of the religion’s most vocal critics, said that “fair gaming” was conducted by her Office of Special Affairs.
She said the office is “dedicated to anyone who speaks the truth about Scientology” and that Fair Gaming “says that anyone who speaks out against Scientology will be played fair, and that means they will be completely destroyed.”
This could be physical and mental, and it means “finding out what that person is trying to protect and going after it, you can cost them their reputation, their job, their family,” Remini said.
Lockwood accused his ex-wife of using “fair game,” a tactic allegedly used by the Church of Scientology against critics as they fought for custody of their twins, pictured here in 2011
Lockwood said that Presley was raised in a “particular belief system,” a thinly veiled reference to Scientology, which she joined when she was 11 and left in 2014
Presley is survived by three grieving daughters, Riley, 33, and twins Finley and Harper, 14, after she died suddenly at the age of 54
Court documents filed in the case last November revealed that Presley was spending more than $92,000 a month before her death and owed the IRS $1 million after beating her father’s $100 million fortune had wasted.
Presley brought in more than $100,000 a month from her father’s estate and businesses, but she spent more than $92,000 a month.
Her monthly expenses include $23,500 in rent and $1,078 on a Maserati car.
The documents show that Presley had $95,266 in cash, $714,775 in stocks and bonds, and that she owed the IRS $1 million.
With her total worth minus her debts, she was estimated at $4 million.
The state of her finances was so precarious that she was at one point $16 million in debt due to disastrous dealings by her managing director, Barry Siegel. This included $10 million owed to the IRS.
Presley was married to actor Keough – Riley’s father – Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage before Lockwood.
When her father died in 1977 aged 42, she was left the entire estate in his will and in 1993, when she turned 25, she took control of the trust.