Elvis Presley heir Riley Keough moves to protect Graceland from sale

Actor Riley Keough, granddaughter of Elvis Presley and heir to his estate, has filed a legal complaint against a private investment firm, alleging that it is attempting a “non-judicial” sale of Presley’s Graceland home.

Keough’s mother, Lisa Marie Presley, died in January 2023, aged 54. In September that year, a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending filed a lawsuit against Lisa Marie’s estate, alleging that when she died she had an outstanding $3.8m (£3m) loan owed to the company, and had used Graceland as collateral.

On 15 May, Keough filed a complaint in a Tennessee court claiming that Naussany’s claims were “fraudulent. Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments”. The complaint also claims that the documents “purporting to evidence such a loan … are forgeries”.

Keough’s documents name Kurt Naussany as a defendant, claiming “he has sent counsel for Keough numerous emails seeking to collect the purported $3.8m debt and threatening to conduct a non-judicial sale of Graceland”. Naussany told NBC News that he left the firm in 2015 and should not be named in the lawsuit.

On 19 May, a public notice was posted in local news outlets stating that Graceland would be auctioned at Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis on 23 May.

A judge filed a temporary restraining order on 20 May, according to a lawyer for Keough. A hearing will be made about the case on the day before the proposed sale.

Situated on 14 acres of land, Graceland was bought by Elvis Presley in 1957 and he lived there until he died at home in 1977. The opulent home has since become a key part of the Presley legend, and operates as a museum that attracts around 600,000 visitors a year.

As well as running the Promenade Trust which manages the Graceland estate, Keough is a successful actor who was Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated in 2023 for her lead role in Daisy Jones & the Six. She has also appeared in films including Mad Max: Fury Road, American Honey, Under the Silver Lake and Zola.