Casey Kasem’s Wife Drags Scientology into Her World of Madness

As if this couldn’t get any worse: Jean Kasem, the wife of radio legend Casey Kasem and star hamburger pitcher, is not only suing his children, but claiming that his daughter Kerri wants to donate Kasem’s $80 million fortune to the Church of Scientology. (This is the only time we’ll say it: those poor Scientologists.)

At the heart of this messy drama is the fact that Kasem, 82, suffers from Lewy body dementia, meaning that he can neither speak nor take care of himself. Initially, he was left in his wife’s custody, and she then disappeared with her husband to the chagrin of his children, who reported him missing. Eventually, he was found in the state of Washington, and a judge granted Kerri custody. (That’s what led to the hamburger thing.)

So to prove that she should have custody of Kasem, Jean alleged that Kerri 1) owed her family $1.3 million and never paid it back, and 2) was actually one of those damn dirty Scientologists, who wanted to throw the family’s money into the pit of Xenu. However, the documents she used to back up her claims were rather dubious: one of them was a third-rate celebrity website which claimed Kerri was a member of the church.

Kerri told NBC News that, uh, that’s cray:

On Wednesday, Kerri Kasem told NBC News that she considers the claims “defamation of character.” She vehemently denied borrowing money from her father and said that her “bank account is an open book to the court.” Kerri Kasem says she has studied several religions, including Scientology and Buddhism.

“I’ve studied many religions and Jean will of course find the most controversial one and use it against me,” she said.

There’s also some drama over Kasem’s physical condition (i.e. whether he was receiving adequate care and whether he is currently in stable condition), but really… Scientologists.

[NBC News]
[Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com]

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