The adult actress who as a child played a young Tina Turner in a movie scored a big win Wednesday in a bitter court battle against her real-life parents over $770,000 she earned in films.
The actress’ lawsuit alleged her parents used her money as their own “slush fund” and that when confronted with questions about the missing money, the mother told her, “I should have aborted you.”
The actress Rae’ven Larrymore Kelly, now 31, played a young Tina Turner in the 1993 film “What’s Love Got To Do With It.” She also had roles in the film “A Time to Kill,” with Samuel L. Jackson and Sandra Bullock, and in the Sam Waterston television series “I’ll Fly Away.” Her resume includes appearances in the television shows “ER,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Roseanne.”
A judge’s ruling Wednesday cleared the way for the former child actress to seek a possible default judgment against her parents.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner stated in a written decision that Phyllis Larrymore-Kelly and Kevin Kelly have repeatedly refused to turn over information sought by attorneys for their daughter.
“The court finds that defendants have willfully disregarded the court’s discovery orders,” Jessner wrote.
Phyllis Kelly is her daughter’s former business manager.
The judge canceled an Oct. 3 final status conference and the scheduled Oct. 11 trial date.
The lawsuit was filed in May 2015 by Rae’ven Kelly and her fiancee, Sean Dinwoodie. On Sept. 13, Jessner found true the theft claim that was among the nine causes of action in the complaint. The plaintiffs’ attorneys estimated in their court papers that the loss was $767,610.
Kelly’s suit alleges her parents used her income “as their personal slush fund to subsidize their own lifestyle and expenses and to invest in their own projects.”
Phyllis Kelly forged her daughter’s signature on bank signature cards and on checks endorsed to the actress, the suit alleges.
When Kelly objected and in February 2015 demanded an accounting of her income, her mother “flatly refused” and said, “I should have aborted you,” according to the lawsuit.
The Kellys disapproved of their daughter’s relationship with Dinwoodie and told his mother that he was “gay or bixsexual” and “produces pornography,” the complaint states.
Kelly’s parents told the actress’ hairdresser that she is “performing in pornographic videos” and told friends and relatives that she has AIDS, according to the suit, which further alleges that they told a family friend that their daughter was “doing illegal drugs.”
—City News Service