Photo: David Geffen, Donovan Michaels, during happier times
Entertainment mogul and billionaire David Geffen is facing an explosive lawsuit from his estranged husband, Donovan Michaels, who is accusing the 82-year-old of exploitation and breach of contract.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges a manipulative relationship in which Geffen “masqueraded as a white knight while hiding behind wealth, philanthropy and fame.”
Michaels, also known as David Andrew Armstrong, claims he first met Geffen in 2016 on “Seekingarrangements.com,” a website he describes as a place “where men like Geffen shop for the vulnerable.”
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Michaels asserts that Geffen paid him $10,000 for sex on their first night together.
The lawsuit further alleges that Geffen then began to treat Michaels as “a living social experiment,” parading him around as a “trophy to show off to his wealthy friends, under the guise of benevolence.”
Michaels, identified in the suit as a young, vulnerable Black man who survived the foster care system, claims Geffen exploited his trauma for “personal gratification and public image.”
He describes their relationship, which spanned nine years and included a two-year marriage, as a “sick game” where he became a “prop in Geffen’s theater of virtue, paraded around as evidence of Geffen’s supposed altruism, while privately used as a sexual commodity.”
Michaels alleges that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Geffen promised to transition their arrangement, asking him to forego his modeling and career ambitions to become his full-time domestic partner and emotional support, in exchange for an equal share of his estimated $9 billion fortune. They legally married in March 2023. However, the lawsuit claims this was a “psychological trap.”
The relationship reportedly unraveled in June, with Geffen, while aboard his yacht in Venice, Italy, allegedly demanding Michaels vacate their New York City residence, “effectively rendering him homeless” and without financial support.
Geffen’s attorney, Patty Glaser, has vehemently denied the claims. In a statement to TMZ, Glaser said, “There was no contract—express, written, oral, or implied—that has ever existed. We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit.”
This lawsuit follows Geffen’s own divorce filing in May, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Reports at the time indicated the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement. Michaels had subsequently filed a response requesting spousal support. This latest lawsuit, however, introduces far more serious and public accusations against the prominent entertainment figure.
