Taya Kyle Withheld 'American Sniper' Proceeds from Bereaved Families; Chris Kyle Told His Business Partners That There was Discord in His Marriage and He Believed Divorce was a Very Real Possibility
Chris Kyle talked with a reporter from the
Texan News Service,
a student run paper at Tarleton State University, on January 28, 2013,
five days before he was murdered. Click the link and go to the 7-minute
mark to hear Kyle evading the question about how many books he's sold
and repeating his claim that all the money he's gotten from the book has
been
given to the families of veterans.
Kent Studebaker,
Taya Kyle's father, confirmed Kyle had received a $100,000 advance
for “American Sniper” (written in 2011-2012) and an additional $700,000
sometime after that, but wouldn't elaborate on the total paid out to him
in royalties before his death.
February 18, 2015
The Hollywood Reporter - When he was alive, Chris Kyle told friends and business associates that he viewed any profits from his memoir
American Sniper
as “blood money.” The legendary Navy SEAL, whose account of his four
tours of duty in Iraq was adapted into the Clint Eastwood movie that is
now up for six Oscars including best picture, maintained that he wanted
the money to go to support struggling military families. After Kyle and a
friend were shot and killed in 2013 by a veteran Kyle was helping,
The New York Times
retold this widely known point of view: “Though his book became a
best-seller, he never collected money from it, friends said, donating
the proceeds to the families of two friends and fallen SEAL members,
Ryan Job and
Marc Lee.”
Yet today, with more than $6 million banked from the American Sniper
franchise (boosted by the sale of more than 2 million books) and
millions more on the way as the Warner Bros. film nears $400 million
worldwide, a quiet dispute festers over who is entitled to that
windfall. At the center of the discord is Kyle’s widow, Taya, 40, who is
alleged to have ignored her late husband’s wishes and withheld money
from the bereaved families he publicly had promised to support.
Neither
Lee’s family nor Kelly Job, the widow of Ryan Job, have filed lawsuits,
and none is expected. Legal experts say that because Kyle’s promise was
verbal and he died without a will, prevailing in a court case would be
unlikely. Sources also say Kelly Job, who lives in California with a
daughter, and Lee’s mother and two siblings are unwilling to be seen
taking legal action against a celebrated widow. (Both families declined
comment.)
But the Lees and Jobs are said to be upset that they haven’t received even a small share of the proceeds from
Sniper
after Kyle died. They maintain, according to sources close to the
families, that Kyle’s wishes are not being fulfilled. In fact, just days
before he was killed, Kyle donated about $56,000 to
the Lee and Job families as well as to a charity supporting veterans. At
a memorial service for Kyle in Dallas footage of which is shown at the
end of
Sniper), Lee’s mother, Debbie, president of the nonprofit
America’s Mighty Warriors — whom Kyle describes in the book as “almost a
surrogate mother to the other members of our platoon”— recalled the
moment she learned of Kyle’s largesse. “I was speechless, overwhelmed
and in tears,” Lee told the audience of 7,000 mourners. “Chris didn’t
publish that book for an income or to be famous. He hated the spotlight.
Chris did that for his teammates.”
Editor's Note: Debbie Lee was
one of Chris Kyle's witnesses in the lawsuit for defamation filed by Jesse Ventura. She offered her own version of the events,
which didn't jive with the versions offered by Kyle or other witnesses. During testimony, Lee said the Kyles had personally given her $26,000. Taya Kyle
testified that the money is part of an effort to disperse
income from her late husband’s book to veterans’ causes.
Taya
Kyle hasn’t spoken publicly about proceeds from the book and movie, but
she was pressed about her willingness to pay the Jobs and Lees in a
separate business dispute. In August, Taya sued Christopher Kirkpatrick,
a Dallas lawyer who had represented both her and her husband in
connection with several business deals, including a company called Craft
International that Chris Kyle had co-founded.
In
that suit, Taya claimed that Kirkpatrick was inappropriately making
statements that Taya had not honored her late husband’s oral promises
and was withholding money from the Jobs and Lees. Taya responded
strongly in a court filing that she owed no such obligation and was in
possession of an undisclosed document that made clear her husband’s
plan: “Chris Kyle specifically detailed his wishes as to the proceeds of
American Sniper in the event of his death,” the language of the
court filing reads. “And such wishes are IN FACT being carried out as
set forth by Mr. Kyle.” She maintained that another adviser had drafted a
written document that spelled out “his wishes as to the distribution of
profits after his death,” which suggests it did not include the Lee or
Job families. Taya has not shared that document in the case, which is
ongoing. Requests by
THR to Taya’s current attorney, Ed
Huddleston, to see that document or speak with Taya were denied, with
Huddleston saying she was too overwhelmed by current events.
Indeed,
it is easy to understand why Taya would feel that way. Even as she has
become perhaps the most famous widow in America, feted by veterans
groups and with her own memoir, American Wife, coming in May, she
faced the agony of testifying Feb. 11 about her husband’s last day
alive at the murder trial of his alleged killer, Eddie Ray Routh. She is
raising two young children alone and has become embroiled in the public
debate over the meaning of her husband’s life story. Critics,
politicians and pundits have joined Michael Moore, Seth Rogen and Blake
Shelton in a national conversation about the war in Iraq, Kyle’s heroism
and even the use of snipers.
At
the same time, she is appealing a judgment that Jesse Ventura won
against the Kyle estate in July for $1.845 million after the former
Minnesota governor successfully argued he was defamed by a passage in American Sniper.
The book claimed Kyle had punched out a man he later identified as
Ventura in a bar in 2006 after the man had said that the SEALs “deserved
to lose a few” in the war. Publisher HarperCollins then agreed to
remove the passage in question from the book.
Taya
Kyle has said that she will struggle to pay more than $1 million of
that verdict herself. Forged.com, a clothing company that sells
officially licensed American Sniper merchandise, raised more than $1
million in donations in a week to cover part of what the Kyle family
might owe Ventura. It is continuing to give a portion of sales on the
site to the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation, which Taya oversees. She also
has received other donations intended to help her pay whatever part of
the Ventura judgment, if it stands, that HarperCollins’ insurance does
not cover.
Despite
the acrimony, legal experts say Taya almost certainly owes no legal
obligation to pay the families of her husband’s comrades. Laura Zwicker,
a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in trusts and estates, says that
in the absence of a binding contract like a will, the Lee and Job
families would have “no claim.” But, continues Zwicker, “Whether [Taya]
has a moral obligation is a whole different story. Legally, all of the
assets of the estate, including his intellectual property, would pass to
[Taya] as his beneficiary.”
…
'Divorce Was a Very Real Possibility'
After
a nasty battle, Taya Kyle and the bankrupt company her husband founded
that helped negotiate contracts with HarperCollins and Warner Bros.
finally are ready to settle.
While American Sniper
has been playing on movie screens, a messy sequence of accusations and
litigation has played out between key players in the company that Chris
Kyle co-founded, Craft International LLC, and his widow, Taya. Final
approval on a settlement in bankruptcy court was expected Feb. 17 in an
action Taya initiated against Dallas hedge fund manager J. Kyle Bass and
other investors in Craft as well as Bass’ attorney, Christopher
Kirkpatrick.
Chris
Kyle and Bass met at a fortuitous moment in the soldier’s life. After
retiring as a Navy SEAL in 2009, Kyle found the transition to civilian
life rough. “I started drinking a lot, pounding back beers,” he wrote in
American Sniper. “I’d say I went into a depression.”
Kyle
had an idea to use his SEAL training to start a company that would
provide training to police, military and security personnel, but he
lacked funds. That changed in 2010, when he met Bass, who had made
millions by shorting subprime mortgage bonds in the run-up to the 2008
financial crisis.
Bass
had attended a program in California run by former SEALs to help him
lose weight. When it ended, he told organizers that he hoped he could
help SEALs make the transition to civilian life. Within weeks, he got a
call about Chris Kyle. Bass flew Kyle to Dallas, and they became
friends. When Bass heard that Kyle wanted to start a company, he put
together investors — including New York hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb
and legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach — who provided
Kyle funds to live and eventually raised a total of about $2.6 million
to form what became Craft International.
Bass,
who declined comment, could have extracted a big share of the equity in
Craft. Instead, he and investors structured the deal as a series of
convertible loans so that if Craft was successful, Kyle would end up
owning about 85 percent.
Bass
gave Kyle and Craft the use of a 41,000-square-foot ranch outside
Dallas to stage training sessions and meetings; free office space; and
made his own attorney, Kirkpatrick, available to act on behalf of the
Kyles and Craft. Kirkpatrick assisted Kyle in renegotiating contracts
signed before the book was published and helped clear the way for the
Warner Bros. movie. Bass, through his company, also bought the Kyles a
house and allowed the family to live in it rent-free.
Shortly
after Kyle’s funeral in February 2013, Bass visited Taya and promised
to give her ownership of the home. She details that promise in her legal
filing and she notes he did not follow through. But other sources claim
Bass conditioned his gift of the home on Taya giving proceeds from the
book and movie to the Lee and Job families.
After
Kyle’s death, Taya sought access to the records of Craft. She said in
her suit that her husband owned 85 percent and alleged the partners were
mishandling company funds.
The
Craft partners responded that the agreement they made with her husband
specifically “excludes” his wife (and the wives of other partners). In a
legal filing, the partners wrote: “Chris Kyle insisted that such a
provision be inserted due to the discord in his marriage and his belief
that divorce was a very real possibility. In the event of divorce or his
death, Chris did not want Taya to have any involvement in Craft aside
from being cashed out at fair market value.” To that end, the Craft
partners hired an independent accountant who offered Taya $12,500 for
her husband’s stake, which she refused.
Answer to Kyle v. Craft, Filed on January 17, 2014:
Taya
also demanded that Craft give her the right to use her husband’s name
and image and the use of a company logo he had helped design. The
partners responded that Taya knew her demands would leave Craft’s
ability to stay in business “severely hampered.”
In
February 2014, Craft filed for bankruptcy protection and the partners
lost their investments, but Taya claimed it was done in bad faith to
wipe out the estate’s equity interest. At the time, Craft reported
assets of $129,540 and liabilities of $2.96 million. In late 2014, Taya,
Bass and others reached a deal. The partners agreed to stop using
Kyle’s name and image, which now belong to Taya.
She
received no money from Craft, but Bass agreed to let her continue to
live in the home until Oct. 30, after which she can buy the house for
$314,612 or pay rent to remain.
A person should not bear false witness against another person. Jesse Ventura met with Chris Kyle, face-to-face, to discuss the allegations and set the record straight. He told Chris that he would drop the lawsuit if Chris publicly would admit to the lie and clear Jesse's name. Chris refused to do it. Why? Because book sales and a movie deal and his credibility were on the line. If he admitted he lied about Jesse, then people would question the other stories he told in his book. He was more than likely pressured by the publisher and the producers of the movie to stand by his story. He chose money over honor and integrity. Taya continues that legacy. Supporters raised the funds for her to pay the judgment she owes Jesse, but she wants to keep the money for herself. Jesse Ventura was defamed. Only Chris could truly clear his name. He died keeping that secret. Kyle's estate was unjustly enriched by the lies Chris told and the lies Taya continues to perpetuate. The Kyles should not be rewarded for that. The only resolution Jesse had was to continue with the lawsuit and put the facts into the public record. Unfortunately, even after the judgment, people still believe Kyle's derogatory story about him. He deserves to be compensated.
ReplyDeleteTaya Kyle has every right to keep the profits from the book and movie. But she needs to set the record straight and stop with the lies about where the profits went. Stop making excuses about why they kept the money. Stop perpetuating the lie that all the profits went to the families of fallen SEALs. The Kyles probably never imagined that the book would be so successful. The little they expected to make from it wouldn't have been much to part with, but the millions they earned, and continue to earn, is a different story. Book sales took off after Chris lied about sucker-punching Ventura for badmouthing the U.S. military, which was another lie he told about Ventura. The Military Industrial Complex singled out Chris. They needed a hero and then a martyr for the public to worship. Chris Kyle's memory is a cottage industry. Both Taya and Warner Bros. are marketing his image for the right-wing to hold up as a symbol of America's military power. Because killing civilians, including women and children and entire villages, is the only way the U.S. can defeat guerrilla warfare, the Military Industrial Complex is conditioning the public to accept this tactic when it invades sovereign nations.