The children of legendary rock guitarist and frequent Martin Scorsese collaborator Robbie Robertson sued his widow, Janet Zuccarini, in a dispute over the musician’s estate, claiming “financial elder abuse.”
In the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, the three adult children are fighting over the $6 million mansion that Robertson, founder of The Band, and Zuccarini purchased and that she continues to live in.
Robertson died in August, just months after he was married to Zuccarini and months after scoring the Oscar-nominated film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” for which he was nominated for an Academy Award this year.
Zuccarini is a respected restaurateur who owns marquee restaurants in Los Angeles including Felix and the recently opened Stella West Hollywood.
Zuccarini’s lawyer Gabrielle A. Vidal called the suit “meritless fiction” in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “This is a gross and exploitative attempt by Robbie Robertson’s children to eviscerate their father’s expressed wishes for his beloved wife Janet.”
The suit notes that Robertson began a relationship with Zuccarini in his later years, but asserts that she “took advantage of her relationship with a vulnerable and ill Robertson to enrich herself to the detriment of Robertson’s children,” which it states were “the sole intended beneficiaries of his estate.”
“She convinced Robertson to sell his home so that they could together buy a trophy home owned by David Geffen,” the suit states,” and live in it together.”
Robertson and Zuccarini were equal owners of the property and, according to the suit, were supposed to contribute equally to expenses. It also raises issues with a prenuptial agreement signed by the couple, which the suit states was prepared by Zuccarini’s attorneys and presented to Robertson shortly before their March 2023 wedding, which came less than six months before his death in August 2023 at 80.
According to the suit, Zuccarini demanded, following Robertson’s death, that the estate and trust continue to pay one-half of her living expenses at the home as long as she continued to live there.
“Robertson’s modest estate and trust would be drained dry” if this were allowed to continue, the suit states.
Beyond his age and illness, including cancer, the suit states that Robertson was taking a variety of medications including opioids and THC, which also affected his ability to understand the documents he was signing.
The suit calls for the cancellation of the pre-nup splitting ownership of the house.
Along with being the songwriter behind hits such as “The Weight,” Robertson is well remembered for frequently collaborating with Scorsese on the soundtracks to his films for decades, up through 2023’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
