B.B. King's Lawyer Dismisses Poisoning Claims As 'Ridiculous'

28 May 2015 | 1:52 pm | Staff Writer

The blues icon's representative, Brent Bryson, believes financial motives are in play

The lawyer of late blues icon B.B. King has dismissed claims by the musician's daughters that the 89-year-old was poisoned ahead of his death earlier this month, suggesting that heirs Karen Williams and Patty King were motivated by less-than-altruistic desires in making the "ridiculous" allegations.

Talking to the New York Daily News, lawyer Brent Bryson explained that he believes that "the children and grandchildren don't like the fact he's leaving them $3000 and $5000 each and then leaving the rest to his lineage for education".

"B.B. did not have a very high formal education, and he wanted to have his lineage go to college, so he set up a trust that would pay for college and other expenses," Bryson explained, valuing King's overall wealth at "millions, but not the 20 or 30 million that's been reported".

However, the King family's lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer, claims there are no shady tactics at play, telling the paper, "This has nothing to do with money."

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

"Whatever results come out will not affect their distribution under the will," she said.

As previously reported, Williams and King made the allegations against the late musician's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, saying the pair prevented the patriarch's family from visiting him in his final hours — a fact that Bryson also disputes.

"I can tell you, there was no motive here for Ms Toney to do anything," he said, explaining that — aside from standard compensation for acting as executor of the will, Toney stands to receive "nothing" from King's will.

"Apparently he didn't trust a lot of his family members; that's why he explicitly named [Toney] his power of attorney and his trustee when he died, and she ran his business while he was performing," he continued.

However, even if there is truth to the visit-blocking allegations, Bryson maintains there is no basis for a criminal investigation, as according to the New York Daily News King sr was examined by "three independent, board-certified doctors" prior to his death.

"There's no basis in reality for these ridiculous allegations," Bryson told the paper.

"[The doctors] all stated he was receiving the utmost professional care at home, which is where Mr King wanted to be. He didn't want invasive treatment."