Business

Sumner Redstone reaches settlement with former live-in girlfriend

Sumner Redstone and his family have agreed to settle their salacious legal battle with the ailing media tycoon’s former live-in girlfriend, Manuela Herzer.

The case — which spilled embarrassing details about Redstone’s sex life and rocked the media empire that controls CBS and Viacom — was dismissed on Tuesday, days before it was slated for trial in California, according to a court filing.

Under the settlement, Herzer — who is 40 years Redstone’s junior — will no longer be a beneficiary of Redstone’s will, which would have allowed her to receive $50 million and the mogul’s $20 million mansion.

Herzer also agreed to drop her appeal and stop fighting with the Redstones over a luxury apartment at the Carlyle Hotel in New York. Over the summer, Herzer claimed that Redstone bought the $5 million pad for her, but a New York judge ruled against her and ordered her to move out.

On the positive side for Herzer, she was allowed to keep all but $3.25 million of $75 million worth of gifts she had received from Redstone. Those gifts included $45 million from vested restricted stock options, a $1.8 million home, more than $9 million in home repairs and millions in shopping sprees.

Both sides agreed to pay for their own costs and legal fees, the filing said. A source close to the case estimated legal fees at $10 million to $12 million for each side.

Lawyers for Redstone declined to comment. Herzer’s team didn’t respond to requests seeking comment.

The settlement is the final chapter in the 3-and-a-half-year legal battle that began in the fall of 2015 when Redstone kicked Herzer out of his Beverly Hills mansion, replaced her as his health care agent and wrote her out of his estate planning.

The court case aired cringeworthy details of Redstone’s personal habits, including his refusal to take doctors’ advice to cut back on sex in order to get stronger to have a feeding tube removed. That tube, according to Herzer, didn’t stop Redstone’s demands to eat steak.

Redstone, who is now 95, is barely able to talk. According to reports, he communicates using an iPad loaded with recordings of his voice from past interviews and with buttons for “yes,” “no” and “f–k you.”

Redstone’s lawyers have refused having the mogul deposed in the litigation that he brought against Herzer. In December, at the request of Redstone’s grandson, Tyler Korff, a California judge ordered that Redstone be placed under court-appointed guardianship due to his difficulty speaking.

Herzer argued in 2016 that Redstone did not have the mental capacity to make financial decisions. At the time, sources said the Redstone camp offered Herzer $30 million to drop the lawsuit.

Instead, Herzer filed her suit, and Redstone, who is the controlling shareholder of CBS and Viacom, stepped down as executive chairman in 2016, following geriatric psych evaluation ordered by a court.

Redstone’s daughter, Shari, took his place, opening the door for Herzer to question whether Redstone was being manipulated to hand over the reins to his media empire.