Two of Paul Newman’s daughters are suing his charitable foundation, which they claim is dishonouring his last wishes and keeping them out of decisions about how his company’s proceeds are donated.
Newman’s daughters, Nell, 63, and Susan, 69, have filed a lawsuit against the Newman’s Own Foundation, the charity through which the profits of Newman’s Own Inc. are channeled and which distributes them for the donate to various charities.
Newman established the foundation in 2005 to safeguard his vision of donating all proceeds from the sale of his salad dressings and other food products to causes close to his heart. The actor died in 2008 after a battle with lung cancer.
According to a lawsuit filed this week, one of his last wishes was for each of his five daughters to receive $400,000 a year from the foundation.
They were not to profit from the money themselves, but rather to distribute it among the charities of their choice.
But the board has now cut those payments in half – giving the girls $200.00 each – and threatening to cut them entirely if they choose, according to the lawsuit.
A lawyer for Nell and Susan tells DailyMail.com they now fear being left out of their father’s inheritance entirely.
“They feel like strangers in their own father’s legacy when all they want is to protect and uphold his wishes.
“It’s not about them trying to get compensation for themselves and it’s not about glory. It could happen to any family,” said Andy Lee of Foley & Lardner LLP.
Susan Newman, 69 (centre) and Elinor ‘Nell’ Newman, 63 (right) have filed a lawsuit against Newman’s Own Foundation, the charity founded by their father in 2005, three years before his death . They are pictured with their sister Clea (left) in 2015
The late actor Paul Newman is shown in 2007, 18 months before his death. He started the foundation in 2005 to safeguard his charitable vision, his daughters say
The foundation takes profits from the sale of Newman’s Own products and donates them to charity. Newman’s vision was for 100% of profits to go to charitable causes
In the months before his death, Newman entrusted longtime advisers Robert Forrester and Brian Murphy with the execution of his will and the management of the foundation.
But the lawsuit says “just days” after her death, Forrester changed the foundation’s rules and threatened the girls’ legacy.
“They leveraged their control over his estate to set the stage for his family’s disenfranchisement,” the lawsuit alleges.
Part of their complaint is that the foundation halved charitable payments of $400,000 a year.
Newman’s five surviving children were to receive the annual $400,000 with the intention of passing it on to their own causes.
Claire, or Clea as she is called, decided not to participate, leaving Nell, Susan and their sisters Melissa and Stephanie to receive the allowances.
Melissa and Stephanie are not involved in the lawsuit against the organization.
It remains unclear why the board sought to expel the sisters, as they claim, or why it changed the rules.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, the board said it adhered to “best practices” for charities despite what the actor said he wanted for his family.
The Newman’s Own Foundation Board of Trustees. The sisters say their father’s legacy is ‘under attack’ from the board, which has strayed from his vision and is pushing them out of the organization
Newman had six children from two marriages. Above he is shown with daughter Nell and second wife Joanne Woodward, in 2003
Newman is shown donating his popcorn on the streets of New York in 1984. He launched the product line in the 1980s after gifting the dressing to friends who loved it and asked for more .
Newman with his wife Joanne Woodward in 1989 at a New York book party where they served guests their famous lemonade
“A cornerstone of Mr. Newman’s beliefs was his philanthropic legacy which continued through his family.
“Over the years, however, the Newman’s Own Foundation has wandered away from its mission to preserve and honor the legacy of Paul Newman.
“The years since Mr. Newman’s death consist of a long and consistent pattern of disregard, by those in control, for Mr. Newman’s specific intentions and direction, coupled with mismanagement, scandal and questionable practices,” the lawsuit states.
Newman, the legendary Hollywood icon, started making salad dressings in 1980 as gifts to friends.
In 1982, he started Newman’s Own as a business, and it made $300,000 in the first year from salad dressing sales.
He said he wanted to “give it his all”. In 1992, the company raised $50 million for charity.
In 2005, Newman founded the Newman’s Own Foundation to ensure that proceeds from sales would still go to philanthropic causes, after his death.
Newman died in 2008. His daughters claim in their lawsuit that three months prior he changed his will to remove some of the foundation clauses, but was not in his right mind when he did so. .
He removed the basis for the obligation to give the sisters the $400,000 a year that Newman had previously promised them.
In 2020, the foundation halved what amounts to $200,000.
Paul Newman had six children from his two marriages. Above, Clea Newman with her mother Joanne Woodward, half-sister Susan and sister Melissa in 2009, a year after their father died of cancer
In 1993, Nell convinced her father to launch a spin-off line of organic foods known as Newman’s Own Organics. She was president of the company for years
The Foundation’s CEO, Miriam Nelson, also recently announced that the charity is changing its vision to focus solely on children.
“We believe that if Paul Newman were still with us today, he would accept our focus on children,” she said in an announcement.
The board defended its actions and said the lawsuit was “without merit”.
They insist that they are only following the law surrounding charities.
“The Council’s philanthropic giving decisions vary each year and the importance of our mission requires us to make the best use of our limited resources. Paul Newman established Newman’s Own Foundation as a private foundation in 2005. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees that must follow regulations for 501(c)(3) organizations.
“Best practices surrounding philanthropic organizations do not permit the establishment of perpetual funding awards for anyone, including Nell and Susan Newman.
“A baseless lawsuit based on this mistaken wish would only divert money from those who benefit from the generosity of Paul Newman.
“While we plan to continue to seek recommendations from the Newman family for worthy organizations, our funding decisions are made annually and will continue to reflect Paul Newman’s clear purpose and our responsibility to best practices governing private foundations. “, a spokesperson told DailyMail. com.
Newman had six children from two marriages before his death. His son Scott died aged 28 in 1978 from a drug overdose.
He had two daughters with his first wife, Jackie Witte, and three daughters with his second wife Joanne Woodward.
None of the other children are involved in the lawsuit, and it is unclear whether Newman also gave them stipends from the charity to donate to their own causes. The actor was 83 when he died in 2008 after a battle with lung cancer.
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