David Geffen’s lawyers are hitting back after the music and film mogul’s estranged husband sued him over explosive allegations of paid sex, exploitation and abuse, vowing to defeat what they called a “false, pathetic lawsuit.”
The response came less than a day after Donovan Michaels filed a shocking lawsuit Tuesday (July 22), claiming his soon-to-be ex-husband, Geffen, exploited a young man with a history of “neglect, poverty, instability and legal entanglements” by lavishing him with money in return for serving as “a sexual commodity.”
Accusing Geffen of breach of contract, the lawsuit claims the mogul verbally promised a “lifetime” of support in 2020 — only to “cut him off” when the pair began divorce proceedings in May, less than two years after they married in 2023.
But in a strongly worded response statement on Wednesday, Geffen’s lawyer Patty Glaser denied the lawsuit’s allegations and vowed to fight back. “There was no contract — express, written, oral or implied — that has ever existed,” Glaser said. “We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit.”
The lawsuit from Michaels, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, went far beyond accusing Geffen of simple breach of contract. Across dozens of pages, it included a wide range of ugly allegations about his brief marriage to the billionaire entertainment titan.
“This case is not about a mere personal falling out — it is about the systemic exploitation of a vulnerable, marginalized young gay Black man by a wealthy, powerful white gay billionaire who believed himself untouchable,” wrote Michaels’ lawyer, Bryan Freedman, in documents obtained by Billboard.
From their first meeting — at which Michaels claims Geffen paid him thousands for sex — the lawsuit alleged that Geffen used a “toxic mix of seduction, control, promises of love and lavish displays of wealth” in order to trap his husband “in a cycle of dependency, submission and humiliation.”
“Behind the glittering facade of their relationship was a calculated pattern of abuse and commodification,” Michaels’ lawyers wrote.
The case was filed as a so-called Marvin action — a reference to a landmark 1976 California court ruling involving Lee Marvin that established that unmarried partners sometimes have legal rights following a split. Michaels says the relationship prior to their 2023 marriage represented “a Marvin-type partnership” in which Geffen made legally enforceable promises of support.
Geffen’s existing divorce case, filed in May by prominent Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser, will continue to be litigated separately. But Tuesday’s case could be aimed at allowing Michael to seek financial remedies based on the three years prior to marriage, after Geffen’s alleged promise of support.
With a net worth reportedly over $9 billion, Geffen has long been one of the entertainment industry’s wealthiest figures. In 1970, he co-founded the influential Asylum Records, then later founded Geffen Records, which was eventually absorbed by Universal Music Group. In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
In 2023, Geffen married Michaels (whose real name is David Armstrong), a former exotic dancer 50 years his junior, without a prenuptial agreement. After less than two years of marriage, Geffen filed for divorce in May, citing irreconcilable differences.
In Tuesday’s lawsuit, Michaels aired many alleged details about his previously private relationship with the media mogul, including that they had met in 2016 on a website called SeekingArrangements.com that aims to facilitate “mutually beneficial” relationships. He also claimed Geffen paid him $10,000 for sex on the night that they first met.
According to Michaels, what started as “a paid sexual relationship” eventually evolved into long-term partnership, in which Geffen allegedly promised in 2020 to provide for him forever.
“Geffen told Michaels he loved him and the two would treat one another as life partners, share all assets equally, and Geffen would support Michaels financially for life,” his lawyers wrote. “Michaels gave up his dreams – his modeling career, his independence – to dedicate himself fully to this promise.”
After the pair married in 2023, the lawsuit claimed much of the marriage “seemed to be based on Geffen’s sexual proclivities,” with the mogul demanding “sexual access at will, including acts Michaels found degrading.” He alleged Geffen had “an unquenchable thirst for control,” frequently demeaned him and plied him with drugs and alcohol as “tools of coercion.”
When Michaels attempted to get sober and “things got difficult,” he said Geffen quickly demanded a divorce, saying he “discarded him just as easily as he had acquired him.” Michaels said he was left with no option but to file his lawsuit because his ex has refused to negotiate their split unless Michaels fires his attorneys and uses Geffen’s own “handpicked team of lawyers.”
Wrote Michaels’ lawyers: “Geffen has made it clear that he will stop at nothing to destroy Michaels.”
