Viacom CEO seeks immediate mental examination of Sumner Redstone
Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman and a fellow director on Thursday demanded an “immediate” mental examination of Sumner Redstone, in the latest move in the war over the 93-year-old media mogul’s empire.
Dauman and fellow Viacom board member George Abrams filed suit in Massachusetts state court in May to dispute their removal from the National Amusements trust, which will eventually determine the future of Viacom.
National Amusements controls 80% of the voting shares in Viacom and CBS Corp., which together have a market value of $40 billion. A hearing in Massachusetts is set for June 30.
Lawyers for Dauman and Abrams in new court papers asserted that the ailing Redstone should submit to a medical evaluation by a neutral doctor to determine the media mogul’s mental capacity.
The motion also demanded the submission of medical records related to Redstone’s mental condition during the last six years.
“Sumner Redstone’s mental condition is the central issue in this litigation,” said the plaintiff’s lawyers in court papers. “It lies at the heart of [the] plaintiffs’ claim that Mr. Redstone lacked the mental capacity to remove them as trustees.”
A spokesman for Redstone declined to comment.
Earlier this week, Redstone’s lawyers asked Massachusetts probate Judge George Phelan to throw out the case.
Redstone’s mental capacity is also expected to take center stage in a separate lawsuit in Delaware — where Viacom is incorporated — over the attempted removal of Dauman and four others from Viacom’s board of directors.
In a sweeping maneuver last week, Redstone and his daughter, Shari, moved to replace the five members, in a major step toward solidifying their control over the struggling media giant.
A Delaware judge said Wednesday that Redstone’s capacity to make his own decisions would be a key matter in the case, and asked to be kept up to date on any discovery proceeding in the Massachusetts case related to the media titan’s mental competance.
Follow Ryan Faughnder on Twitter for more entertainment business coverage: @rfaughnder
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