The children of the late Robbie Robertson, songwriter and guitarist with the Band, are suing his widow, Janet Zuccarini, over his assets.
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles and seen by the Guardian, Alexandra, Delphine and Sebastian Robertson allege elder abuse, claiming that Zuccarini had Robertson sign documents he was not capable of fully understanding while on strong pain medication. Zuccarini, they allege, “took advantage of her relationship with a vulnerable and ill Robertson to enrich herself to the detriment of Robertson’s children”.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, lawyers for Zuccarini called the lawsuit “meritless fiction … gross and exploitative”.
The dispute centres on the house where Robertson and Zuccarini lived when the musician – who was also known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan – died.
The Robertson children claim that Robertson intended for the house in Beverly Hills, which was jointly owned by the couple, to be either sold entirely to Zuccarini, sold off jointly with her, or bought out from her. He reportedly reassured them of this in the months before his death aged 80 in August 2023, saying “nothing in his estate plan had changed”.
Instead, the children allege, Zuccarini has used an amendment to the agreement to claim “she was entitled to reside in the property until her death – and that [Robertson’s children] were required to pay, from what would have been their modest inheritance, the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and half of the daily property maintenance expenses for the duration of her life”.
Zuccarini, a restaurateur who was a judge on the reality show Top Chef Canada, met Robertson in 2017. They bought the $6m (£4.7m) property from film producer David Geffen in 2021 and married in March 2023 – allegedly after Robertson was told by doctors “he was likely to die soon” from advanced cancer. The heirs allege that Zuccarini “arranged a private wedding, insisting that it be kept secret from Robertson’s family members”.
Robertson had cancer surgery in 2022, and took opioids and THC (the active ingredient in cannabis) to manage the pain. The lawsuit states that “Robertson’s mental state was severely impaired” by the medication. “These drugs he was taking, in the period of time when Zuccarini was arranging the secret wedding and having him sign oppressive documents, are known to have significant effects on cognition, including confusion, hallucinations, torpor, depression, memory loss, and dissociation.”
The lawsuit claims that Zuccarini “knew that, especially in his weakened state, he would not understand the subtleties of the documents that she presented to him for signature”.
After Robertson’s death, his children claim Zuccarini became “cold and distant” and “lawyered up ... she also blocked the Robertson heirs from having access to his personal effects, including his ashes. However, she did bill them for the costs of cremation”.
The children are calling for the cancellation of the legal amendment that Robertson signed, and for damages, claiming they have been “harmed in an amount greater than $5m, to be proven at trial”.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Zuccarini’s lawyer, Gabrielle A Vidal, said: “This lawsuit is a meritless fiction and the truth will prevail. This is a gross and exploitative attempt by Robbie Robertson’s children to eviscerate their father’s expressed wishes for his beloved wife, Janet.”
Robertson left behind asubstantial body of work, including songs by the Band such as The Weight and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. As well as recording acclaimed solo albums, he had a longstanding partnership with Martin Scorsese, compiling soundtracks or writing scores for films including Raging Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street and their final film together, Killers of the Flower Moon in 2023.
