Redstone Faces Ex-Girlfriend's Palimony Demand

Sumner Redstone, Sydney Holland

One of billionaire Sumner Redstone’s former girlfriends won court permission to pursue a claim that his daughter Shari invaded her privacy and pushed the media mogul to abandon his promise of lifetime financial support.

Bloomberg reports a Los Angeles judge on Monday refused to dismiss Sydney Holland’s complaint that Shari Redstone secretly paid her father’s staff to dig up confidential information that could be used to oust Holland from his life. Holland is seeking about half of Sumner Redstone’s liquid assets as palimony, or about 1 to 2 percent of his $5 billion estate, according to her attorney, Mark Holscher.

Robert Klieger, an attorney for Shari Redstone, declined to comment on Monday’s ruling.

Klieger had argued in court papers that there was no enforceable palimony agreement and that Holland couldn’t prove that Shari Redstone had knowledge of the oral contract that the ex-girlfriend alleges she had with Sumner Redstone.

Holland filed a separate complaint in December against Sumner Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., after he sued her and another ex-girlfriend in October seeking more than $150 million in damages for allegedly taking advantage of him.