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Ringling circus heirs embroiled in lawsuit
Herald Tribune ^ | May 4, 2011 | Staff

Posted on 05/05/2011 8:30:30 PM PDT by Brandonmark

WASHINGTON - The late multimillionaire owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, Irvin Feld, left a renowned business stunningly at odds with a bitter family legacy. He built an empire of wholesome entertainment meant to bring families together, yet his own two children are so estranged they couldn't even mourn with one another in peace.

The often sad family history behind "the greatest show on Earth" is being aired in court at a trial that starts May 9 before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. Karen Feld filed a $110 million suit against her younger brother, Kenneth, for assault when they came together in the Jewish rite of sitting shiva for their dead aunt.

The suit filed by 63-year-old Karen Feld says her 62-year-old brother long wanted to harm her and control her life because he feared she would reveal facts about their father and family that could tarnish the image of the family business. Irvin Feld created Feld Entertainment, which Kenneth Feld now runs and bills as the world's largest source of live family entertainment, including the circus, Disney on Ice, drag racing and monster truck shows.

Kenneth Feld has gone to great lengths to protect the family's privacy; he even hired a prominent former top CIA covert operative to run a secret 8-year operation to spy on and divert an author who wanted to write a family history. The author's revelations included Irvin Feld's homosexuality, his wife's suicide and his children's long-running feud.


(Excerpt) Read more at heraldtribune.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: circus

1 posted on 05/05/2011 8:30:35 PM PDT by Brandonmark
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To: Brandonmark

Ir’s kind of out in the open now.


2 posted on 05/05/2011 8:46:55 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: freekitty
Yep...nothing like a major public lawsuit with media coverage to "protect the family's privacy" !
3 posted on 05/05/2011 8:51:51 PM PDT by Brandonmark (News Coverage)
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To: Brandonmark

There’s a sucker born every minute.


4 posted on 05/05/2011 8:54:50 PM PDT by chemicalman ("The taxpayer - work for the Fed gvmt, but doesn't take a civil service exam. Reagan)
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To: Brandonmark

Homie duh Clown don’t play dat game!


5 posted on 05/05/2011 9:28:32 PM PDT by Vendome ("Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it anyway")
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To: Brandonmark

Couple of Trust Fund Brats fighting over the spoils.


6 posted on 05/05/2011 9:31:54 PM PDT by RoadKingSE (How do you know that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't a muzzle flash ?)
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To: Brandonmark

These so-called brothers should settle their differences, otherwise their respective attorneys will wind up with all of the money and there won’t be any reason to sue each other.


7 posted on 05/05/2011 11:49:24 PM PDT by july4thfreedomfoundation (A Jimmy Carter got us a Ronald Reagan......A Barack Obama will get us a Sarah Palin)
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To: Brandonmark
'The often sad family history behind "the greatest show on Earth" is being aired in court'

I hope it doesn't turn into a circus.

8 posted on 05/06/2011 1:16:12 AM PDT by Daaave ( "Cause time goes by like hurricanes, and faster things.")
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To: RoadKingSE
Couple of Trust Fund Brats fighting over the spoils.

So they are not happy with their Trusts? Was there no will?

9 posted on 05/06/2011 4:36:39 AM PDT by sr4402
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