We’ve heard that Robin Williams’ children and his widow are feuding in court over his personal items, including a pricey watch collection, and other effects that were reportedly removed from the home he shared with his wife of three years, Susan Schneider. In February TMZ reported that Susan had filed legal documents “complaining someone came into the house days after Robin’s death and took some of the actor’s belongings.” According to TMZ, Robin’s three children countered that they were barred from the home by Susan and had not removed anything. Robin’s will left his personal items including movie memorabilia to his children, who are presumably legally entitled to them.
The good news is that lawyers for Schneider and for Williams’s children have agreed to settle this matter privately through mediation. They reached the agreement in a court hearing yesterday in San Francisco. Lawyers for both sides told People that they didn’t want this matter to become public at all. In a new post to Tumblr, Robin’s daughter Zelda attempted to set the record straight. She stated that nothing had been taken from her father’s home and that reporters have gotten the story wrong:
While I have not had, and will continue not to have any comment on my family’s current legal proceedings (as their private nature has already been violated enough), there is one bit of misinformation being proliferated by the media that I have been made aware of and strongly feel the need to correct. My brothers and I have not at any point since dad’s death been invited to or visited his and Susan’s house in Tiburon, nor have we removed anything from it. For reporters to twist Susan’s court petition to imply that she believes my siblings and I did otherwise is to attempt to create drama where there is none and spread outright falsehoods, sadly a more and more common occurrence on the ‘news’ these days.
At least in this instance, it is gossip I can disprove with actual fact.
Anywho, that’s all for now. So long, and thanks for all the fish!
You may assume that Zelda is refuting reports by outlets like TMZ or Radar claiming that Susan’s court petition stated that she and/or her siblings took some of their father’s belongings. In fact this story seems to have originated in the New York Times, which cited lines in Susan’s court documents claiming that “property was ‘unilaterally removed’ from their home ‘days after Mr. Williams’s untimely death.’” In response at the time, a representative for the children refuted that, stating “Notwithstanding Ms. Schneider Williams’s insinuations, the fact is that neither the Williams children nor any representative of theirs has been in the house or had anything taken from it since Robin Williams’s tragic death.”
Just to clarify, it was Susan’s legal documents that seemed to claim that the children took some of their father’s things, which they denied and blamed Susan for insinuating. Zelda is again denying that and stating that reporters twisted the story. Zelda’s statement is well put and she has impressed me so much in her very brief public appearance supporting her father’s charity work. It’s just that there’s more to this story than reporters gossiping and getting it wrong. There’s a rift here that played out in court, and Zelda seems to acknowledge this by stating that she and her siblings haven’t been in her father’s house since he passed. For the family’s sake, I hope they can work it out peacefully. It looks like they’re doing that and it’s surely what Robin would have wanted.
Now let’s look at some puppies from Zelda’s Instagram.
Photos of Robin are from 2009 (header) and 2011. Photo with just Zelda is from February, 2015. Credit: WENN.com Other photos credit: Zelda Williams/Instagram.
I hate when people complain about reporters “getting it wrong” when they are reporting fact. Stating that Susan’s suit says the children removed items from the home is NOT incorrect. She impressed me too at first, but this feels whiny.
I know that TMZ misleads in regards to court documents. I have seen where they take a factual tiny part, and misrepresent the overall situation regarding that fact. They DO twist things for drama.
The media twist and lie. Omg tell me more, when did they start doing that.
Of course it’s not new, that wasn’t my point. Did you see the part where she wrote that they were reporting “fact”?
Some people put faith into TMZ’s reporting because they supposedly get it straight from court documents. People a lot of times fail to realize that TMZ manipulates the court sourced information they share.
TMZ and the NYT are two very different things. I was talking specifically about the linked post. Everybody knows TMZ isn’t a high-standards outlet, so why Zelda would feel the need to respond is beyond me. Ignore it. However, there are trustworthy outlets reporting fact, like what’s contained in the suit. Fact with credit, like “Susan’s suit claims”. That doesn’t mean the paper is saying these things happened, it’s saying this is what she says.
Puppy, puppy, puppy. Ummm, what was the topic.
Does anyone know how to say “no comment” anymore? Must everything be on Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr?
I’m not sure what to believe but it’s sad that families have to go to court to settle these things. It’s unfortunately extremely common, I think. And it sucks.
^This. Sad to say, but death often brings out the ugly and the greedy in a family.
It does seem common for some level of disagreement to occur.
The other day, I was reading up on what being an executor entails, and I am now confident I will never agree to serve in that capacity for a friend or relative. The potential headaches and personal liability exposure are more than I care to take on.
I’m executor of my mother’s will. I’m not looking forward to it because besides losing my mum I’ll have to deal with my idiot brothers and one of their wives who will no doubt be a grasping wench but I’m happy to do it still. It’s a bit of comfort for my mother knowing that the sensible one will be in charge.
You had me at “puppies”………..
Whatever beef they have at the moment, I give her credit for helping homeless animals. Those puppies are adorable!
Just reporters?
Eh I think celebrities use the “media got it wrong” to hide things they are ashamed of and I think the media sensationalizes stories to get viewers/readers. Both sides are guilty, and more than likely we will never get the “real story”.
Well seems to me she’s stating that she and her sibs didn’t remove anything- not that TMZ or whoever misquoted the initial court pleadings that said just that. Anyhoo, settle it out of public eye. Also, what cute puppies!!
I think what she is pointing out is that Susan said someone had entered the house and removed things, but did not outright state it was the children. There are a number of other people it could be–household, medical or police staff. In fact, this statement could have been Susan’s explanation for barring everyone entry to the house–to prevent more things from going missing while they divide up the estate. The media twisted it by saying she accused the children of taking things.
That is what I thought. A family member passed another family member manipulated the family member who passed (she was over 90) to get her keys and alarm code. Refused to give the keys back to the executor of the estate and my family will never know if this family member took anything from the house while the family member lay trying to stay alive. The executor now has to change the locks on the house because a family member kept the keys so long no one knows if the keys were copied.
I guess my family member let her mask slip. I am deeply hurt by the lack of empathy and sheer GREED. I would never want to be an execitor of a will after what I have seen go on and it only just started. The same person who is not the executor and kept the keys than went in and took photos and video of the entire house contents. Note that my family member had not even been dead a week.
I am so distraught over it I have thrown up over the stress and I am only a bystander. We lost a family member and as the family member was dying this one family member was asking the ill family member where and what was in the will and went into even worse questions.
I am absolutely sick over it. My family member who passed was not famous imagine what people steal from famous people dead or alive. Ofcourse dead its worth more. Sickening.