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R/£ Castles, cars, gems and art 'led Cage to financial ruin'
November 21, 2009 Edition 1
LONDON: Actor Nicolas Cage is being sued by his former business manager, who claims lavish spending, not his advice, is to blame for the actor's financial problems.
Samuel Levin filed a countersuit in Beverly Hills on November 12, less than a month after the Ghost Rider star filed a $20 million (R150m) lawsuit against him for fraud, claiming he had led him toward financial ruin.
Levin's suit says he tried to warn Cage when he was hired in 2001 that the actor was outspending even his large Hollywood pay cheques. He is seeking a declaration that he acted properly, didn't excessively charge Cage for his services, and is owed $129 000 for work he did after he was fired in 2008.
The filing states Levin enacted a plan that resulted in Cage selling a dozen cars and a $1.6m comic book collection.
Marty Singer, Cage's attorney, said Levin's claims were absurd.
He said it was a breach of privacy for Levin to release details about Cage's asset sales. In addition, Levin has been paid $1.3m in the past 18 months, Singer said.
Cage is facing tough financial times and has been forced to sell some of his property, according to his original court filing against Levin. The Internal Revenue Service has filed more than $6.6m in tax liens against the actor this year, records show.
Levin claims he advised Cage years ago that he would need to earn $30m a year to maintain his lifestyle. The lawsuit states he warned Cage not to buy castles in England and Bavaria.
Referring to Cage by his birth surname of Coppola, Levin's lawsuit states the actor in 2007 alone bought $33m in property, 22 cars and nearly 50 pieces of expensive jewellery, art and other exotic items.
Cage has reportedly sold Midford Castle, near Bath, in England, which he bought for £5m in 2007, and his Bavarian castle, Schloss Neidstein.
"Coppola also spent huge sums taking his sizable entourage on costly vacations and threw enormous, Gatsby-scale parties at his residences," the lawsuit states, referring to the character in the F Scott Fitzgerald novel.
Singer said it had ultimately been up to Levin to properly manage Cage's finances.
"You're a business manager," Singer said. "You need to say no."
Cage's lawsuit against Levin claimed the actor didn't find out about his financial woes until after changing business managers in 2008. - Daily Mail
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