The Jan. 12 death of Lisa Marie Presley at only age 54 shocked the entertainment world, coming only two days after the film Elvis was honored at the Golden Globes. But new reports about the final days of Elvis's only child are causing even more surprise. The weeks before Presley died of cardiac arrest involved massive weight loss, drug use, and family conflict, among other issues, TMZ reported this week. Read on to find out what insiders and experts have revealed about the pressures Lisa Marie was facing in what should have been a time of professional triumph.
1 | Lisa Marie Was Taking Opioids, Report Says
Presley had previously battled addiction and had been taking opioids in the weeks before her death, TMZ reported. “She was slurring her speech [at the Golden Globes], she had drooping eyelids, she was unsteady on her feet … that’s not normal for a woman who is otherwise healthy at her age," said addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky in the Jan. 30 documentary Lisa Marie Presley: An Unending Tragedy. He added: "The behavior at the Golden Globes was consistent with somebody on a lot of substance.”
2 | Had Taken Extreme Weight-Loss Measures, Report Says
Presley had also lost a lot of weight—40 to 50 pounds in the six weeks before the Golden Globes on Jan. 10, TMZ reported. She had undertaken a strict diet and was taking weight-loss pills to prepare for awards season, in which the biopic Elvis is a leading contender. The singer did her last interview on the Golden Globes red carpet with Extra's Billy Bush.
Two days after her death, he recalled that Presley did not seem well that night. “She was very uneven in her balance,” he told Fox LA. “The speech was very slow. And, definitely, when the interview was over, I turned to my producer next to me and said, ‘Something’s off here.’” “She was cognizant. She was certainly with it, just a second slow. But she was there. She was definitely there, but just a tad off in some way,” he said.
3 | Conflicts With Mother, Sources Claim
Sources close to the family say Lisa Marie and her mother, Priscilla, had been in conflict for some time. “There was a lot of bad blood between them,” said TMZ producer Jacob Wasserman. “Yes, they were with each other at the Golden Globes, but some family members told us they were absolutely shocked to see them sitting at the same table.”
4 | Fight Over the Lisa Marie's Will
Last week, Priscilla contested “the authenticity and validity” of her daughter’s will, which named Lisa Marie's eldest daughter, Riley Keough, as trustee. A 2016 amendment ousted Priscilla from that position of authority; she is claiming the amendment is fraudulent.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Priscilla states that her daughter created a revocable living trust in 1993, which she amended and completely restated in 2010, naming her then as a trustee of her estate. "It's strictly a money grab," a source told Page Six, claiming that Priscilla and Lisa Marie barely had a relationship toward the end of the younger woman's life.
5 | Even More Family Complications
In addition to Riley Keough, 33, Lisa Marie leaves behind 14-year-old twins Finley and Harper, whose father is Lisa Marie's fourth husband, Michael Lockwood. But in the weeks before her death, Lisa Marie and the children were living with her third husband, Danny Keough, TMZ reported.
The news outlet says a custody battle is "brewing" between Danny Keough and Michael Lockwood. The twins' father is likely to be awarded custody. Complicating matters: Riley's desire to maintain a relationship with her younger siblings.
