Michael Lockwood blamed the Church Of Scientology and their method of causing major issues in their custody battle for his twin daughters, Harper and Finley, 11.
Multiple top celebrities in Hollywood have made headlines for their connection to the controversial Church of Scientology. From Tom Cruise's relationship with his daughter Suri to John Travolta's wife Kelly Preston's healthcare, all of these are linked to the Church of Scientology. More recently, 52-year-old Lisa Marie Presley's ex-husband Michael Lockwood, 59, dragged her and the church into a legal matter.
He blamed the Church Of Scientology and their methods for causing major issues in their custody battle for their twins daughters, Harper and Finley, 11. The musician also called on one of the religion's most famous defectors, Leah Remini, as a witness in the custody trial, according to The Blast.
Lockwood and Presley were married from 2006 to 2016, and their custody battle has been ongoing since they separated. The guitarist claimed that the daughter of Elvis Presley tried to alienate him from their twin daughters after their separation, according to legal documents obtained by The Blast.
He also added that Presley falsely accused him of sexually abusing their children. He was never convicted for the allegations. He said that she taught them about painting him in a negative light. This practice is reportedly called "fair gaming" and is taught by Scientologists, who want to take down any of its "perceived enemies."
His other claims include Presley referring to him as an "SP" or "Suppressive Person" in texts with her daughter, actress Riley Keough, in 2016. According to Scientology's website, a "Suppressive Person" is someone "who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity." They will "goof up or vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly knife with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent."
Presley's former husband said that Keough and she came up with a "plan" for their break-up. He also claimed he was followed by private investigators, when the California Department of Children and Family Services' was investigating him on the abuse allegations.
To battle his ex, Lockwood has hired another Scientology defector as his lawyer. According to the Sun UK, lawyer Joseph Yanny, partner of LA-based Yanny & Smith, who represented the Church in the 1980s and later left, is going to fight Lockwood's case. They are going to raise Presley's past addiction to narcotics and alcohol, and possible relapse after the death of her son, Benjamin Keough.
"Michael's world has been turned upside down over the past four years and he has also been left devastated by Benjamin's death, he was his stepfather for more than a decade. He feels for the entire family, and he just wants what is best for the girls during this traumatic time, everyone wants this to be over so they can move on and grieve in peace. Michael has now hired Joseph who is an absolute powerhouse and went against the Church, which will be mentioned a lot throughout the trial after Lisa's previous alleged involvement," a source said.
In the papers filed, Lockwood said, "Lisa Marie Presley's son shot and killed himself in her home (Although she was not there at the time). With all due sympathy and respect, this creates a new and unaddressed twofold problem: the safety of the children and the greater likelihood of [Presley] to relapse into drug and alcohol dependency. Thus, there is a significantly higher risk to the safety of the children which would ordinarily justify 100 percent physical custody (to me) at this time in such circumstances."
The 59-year-old is also battling diminished income, as the pandemic and mounting litigation costs have dwindled his assets. He is more than $70,000 in debt, according to the Sun UK. Presley is also not paying for his legal representation, even though he had asked for financial help from her.
The concerned father wants to remove his 11-year-olds from his former Calabassas home, owned by Presley — the sole heir to the Elvis Presley estate. He also alleged that his former wife displayed risky behavior around the children. "The children told (me) that (LMP) walked around the house with a gun in her hand in 2017. There was at least one gun on the premises of her home at the time of her son’s suicide and it is unclear where the gun was kept or whether Finley and/or Harper might have access to this gun or others," he said.
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