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Jul 24, 2025  |  
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David Geffen, the billionaire record executive and co-founder of DreamWorks Pictures, filed for divorce in April from estranged husband Donovan Michaels, who has now sued Geffen for breach of an oral contract between the two, accusing him of reneging on promised financial support and coercing him with drugs and alcohol.

Michaels, 32, sued Geffen, 82, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging Geffen breached an oral contract the two had made under which “Geffen would support Michaels financially for life” if he acted as Geffen’s life partner, caretaker and travel companion.

After Geffen filed for divorce from Michaels in April, Michaels alleges in the new lawsuit Geffen breached their contract by cutting off financial support and demanding he vacate Geffen’s New York home, which effectively left him homeless.

In the lawsuit, Michaels alleges Geffen exploited him as a “vulnerable, marginalized young gay Black man,” stating Geffen was a “wealthy, powerful white gay billionaire who believed himself untouchable.”

Michaels claims Geffen demanded he get “painful laser treatments and dental treatments” and subjected him to verbal “insults and put-downs,” while also demanding Michaels provide “sexual access at will, including acts Michaels found degrading.”

Michaels alleges Geffen filed for divorce after Michaels began seeking treatment for addiction and told the billionaire he wanted to develop “an independent identity that he could be proud of, not one solely tied to Geffen and his singular approval.”

Forbes reached out to lawyers representing both Geffen and Michaels for comment, though Geffen’s lawyer Patty Glaser called the lawsuit is “pathetic” and “false,” stating there “was no contract — express, written, oral, or implied — that has ever existed,” according to the The Los Angeles Times.

Court documents indicate the couple did not sign a prenup upon getting married in 2023. San Francisco-based family law attorney Samantha Bley DeJean told the New York Times Michaels would be entitled to half of what Geffen earned through his “time, skill and effort” during their marriage, but Michaels would not be entitled to income Geffens earned passively, like residuals or dividends from his film or music ventures. Geffen’s divorce filing says he intends to pay spousal support, the Times reported, and DeJean told the Times that Geffen is so wealthy “any spousal support that he’d be ordered to pay probably will not make a dent for him.”

Geffen is worth an estimated $8.8 billion as of Wednesday, according to Forbes estimates.

Geffen amassed a significant fortune as a successful music record executive and film producer, co-founding Asylum Records in 1971 and Geffen Records in 1980. Musicians who have released albums under his labels have included Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, John Lennon, the Eagles and Nirvana. Geffen founded the Geffen Film Company in 1982, under which he produced films including “Risky Business” (1983), “Little Shop of Horrors” (1986) and “Beetlejuice” (1988), and he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994. Geffen came out as gay in 1992, but was previously known for his relationship with Cher in the 1970s.

Without a Prenup, David Geffen’s Divorce Could Get Interesting (New York Times)