Harry Belafonte has filed a lawsuit against Martin Luther King Jr.’s estate claiming that it is trying to prevent him from auctioning off historical letters connected to the civil-rights leader that are rightfully his.
Belafonte and Martin Luther King Jr. were good friends and while it doesn’t seem surprising that he would have possession of some of the iconic activist’s letters, the King estate doesn’t believe the singer-songwriter has rightful ownership of any of the documents.
The documents in question are a Vietnam War speech outline that belonged to King; a draft of a speech that King was to deliver in Memphis that was found in his coat pocket after he was assassinated; and a letter from former President Lyndon B. Johnson that was written to King’s family after his death.
Belafonte wanted to put the documents up for auction at Sotheby’s in 2008, but the auction house refused to move forward until the dispute between Belafonte and King’s three surviving children is settled.
The case is similar to the fiasco that occurred between Kobe Bryant and his mother when she was ready to auction off the NBA star’s memorabilia.
The problem is deciding who is the actual owner of the items because simply possessing them isn’t enough to claim you have the right to sell them.
According to Belafonte, however, he is the rightful owner of the documents and King’s estate needs to put an end to the accusations that he “wrongfully acquired the collection.”
While King’s heirs – Dexter, Bernice, and Martin Luther King III – stated that Belafonte took the documents without permission, Belafonte’s version of events is quite the opposite.
Belafonte provided detailed accounts of how he rightfully obtained the historical pieces, while King’s estate has struggled to tell the courts just how Belafonte would have wrongfully obtained the paperwork.
In the lawsuit, Belafonte explained that he has had possession of the Vietnam War speech outline since 1967 because King left the speech behind when the two friends were working on Belafonte’s apartment together.
As for the notes for the speech that was supposed to be delivered in Memphis, Belafonte said they were given to him by the original heir of the notes. The notes were first given to one of King’s longest-serving confidants, but after he passed away in 1979, the man’s widow passed the notes on to Belafonte.
The letter from the president was supposedly given to the social activist by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, about 10 years ago after she caught sight of the vast collection of other historical documents in Belafonte’s home.
The lawsuit also claimed that King was no stranger to giving out his notes and letters, and Belafonte is reportedly “disappointed” in the King children for trying to tarnish the gifts that were given to him.
The lawyer for the King estate, Miles J. Alexander, has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
