Two years ago, when the billionaire Hollywood mogul Sumner Redstone passed away, his granddaughter Keryn got a text message from an old acquaintance expressing sympathy for her loss. Keryn, 40, who was among the beneficiaries of her grandfather’s fortune after an estate battle with two of Sumner’s former live-in girlfriends, did not respond right away. But a few months later, Keryn texted back her old buddy, Scott Nathan, and the two began chatting. That’s where their stories diverge. The dispute, now in court, represents a strange aftermath to the legal drama featured in James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams’s new book about the Redstone family and their media legacy.
According to Nathan’s account, Keryn Redstone offered him a job as her estate manager and personal assistant, which he accepted. After receiving a $50,000 signing bonus, he began to organize her chaotic life. Soon, he moved into her Brentwood residence, lured by the promise of more money. But Nathan claims that Keryn struggled with mental and substance abuse issues and began hurling wild accusations at him. One morning, the police woke him up after Redstone called 9-1-1 claiming Nathan had stolen money and held a gun to her head. A few days later, she repeated those accusations to porn star Danny Mountain, who was at her home to provide “sexual services.” Finally, Redstone tweeted a photograph of her cat with the message, “My cat that Scott Nathan stole from my house.” That, apparently, was the final straw; Nathan decided to sue.
Naturally, Redstone offered a very different version of events. When they first reconnected, she says, he hit her up for money, and she wired him funds to help him out. But she claims she never actually hired him, and only asked him to stay at her place for a few days while she was settling in. Nathan, she continues, used that opportunity to insinuate himself into her life and exploit her financially. He was the one who exhibited mental instability, she said, evidenced by a strange fixation with her “rare and expensive cat.” Redstone found his behavior concerning and asked him to leave. That’s when he pulled a gun on her. Being cautious, she waited for him to fall asleep before calling the cops.
