A powerful media family torn apart by jealousy and rivalry. A granddaughter rushing to the aging patriarch’s side as he very publicly withers away. Lies, betrayal and lawsuits.
These aren’t the machinations of the fictional Roy family from “Succession,” but the dramas that have embroiled the very real Redstone clan, whose well-documented dysfunction partially inspired the critically acclaimed HBO show.
But those deep rifts — most prominently between Paramount Global overlord Shari Redstone and her niece Keryn Redstone — may soon begin to heal thanks to the impending windfall for handing over the reins to the media and entertainment giant.
The Redstones are poised to collect $1.75 billion for their 77% stake in National Amusements, the family business that controls Paramount, in the on-again, off-again, on-again deal with Skydance Media.
Keryn Redstone, 42, stands to walk away with roughly $140 million — a final gift from the grave from media titan Sumner Redstone as her share of a trust he set up for his five grandkids, sources told The Post.
The mercurial mogul Keryn affectionately called “Grumpy” became a dominant force in media by turning his dad’s 14 drive-in theaters into hundreds of movie palaces.
He then used profits to buy relatively small stakes in media companies and resold those stakes in the 1980s for giant profits.
His next step was buying media companies like CBS and Viacom through bare-knuckle takeover battles and sheer determination, before his health began to fade in the mid-2010s — when Keryn Redstone rushed to his side.
“I had a difficult but authentic relationship with my grandfather,” Keryn Redstone told The Post in an exclusive interview. “He had such a strong sense of humor.”
He also could be cutthroat. Sumner pit his two children, Shari and Brent Redstone, against each other in their own succession battle that continues to play out as Paramount Global — the company he forged out of CBS and Viacom — nears its conclusion
The older of two daughters fathered by Brent, Keryn Redstone has faced her own travails despite a seemingly idyllic upbringing in one of the nation’s wealthiest families.
She was raised near the family compound in Massachusetts before the dad moved the girls to a 625-acre ranch in rural Evergreen, Colo., when she was 11 years old.
She and her sister Lauren, now 38, went to a Colorado prep school that required a five-hour, round-trip commute each day, Keryn said.
After graduating, she moved to New York, getting her film and television degree from NYU in less than two years, before attaining a law degree from the University of Denver.
It was during her time in law school that one of the first salvos in the family’s succession feuds was fired when her father sued National Amusements.
Brent refused to give his Paramount voting shares to his father, who was getting a divorce and wanted to maintain control over the business. Shari sided with her dad’s plans against her mother’s wishes.
Brent settled with National Amusements in 2007, getting a roughly $240 million payout but giving up his rights to any future money if the company was sold, according to media reports.
Sumner retained control of Paramount.
Keryn stayed close to Grumpy, despite the estrangement between the father and son.
She would often travel from her Colorado home to stay at the mogul’s Los Angeles mansion overlooking Beverly Hills.
During that time, she became friendly with the tycoon’s much younger live-in girlfriend and caretaker Manuela Herzer, according to James Stewart and Rachel Abrams’ book, “Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy.”
Herzer would play a pivotal role in fracturing the Redstone family even further during a bruising legal battle between the gal pal and Shari as her dad’s health began to fade.
In 2016, Keryn sided with Herzer, claiming her aunt pressed for a “do not resuscitate” order while her father was hospitalized, according to court records.
“Shari and her family have managed to totally isolate and effectively kidnap, brainwash, and take advantage of my grandfather due to his debilitated state of mind and frail health,” she said in a June 2016 statement.
“Shari and her three adult children have succeeded in reversing decades of my grandfather’s careful estate planning and are poised to seize control of Viacom and CBS.”
Keryn had moved to the Los Angeles mansion the previous year at the request of Herzer and her grandfather when Sumner’s health started rapidly failing, she added in her statement.
“My grandfather and I have had a very close and loving relationship ever since I was a little girl,” Keryn said at the time.
In exchange for her moving in, Grumpy created a $1 million trust for Keryn that allowed her to spend the income from the principal, according to “Unscripted.”
The court battle aired plenty of the Redstones’ dirty laundry, including an alleged death threat from Shari aimed at Keryn during Sumner’s 91st birthday party in 2014, his granddaughter alleged in the lawsuit.
Keryn was sitting next to Sumner because he had injured his hand and asked her to be near him so she could help him eat, Keryn said in court filings.
Shari wanted to sit next to him and when Keryn refused to move her aunt threatened to kill her, according to court documents.
“I am sad and disappointed that Keryn has chosen to align herself with Herzer against my father,” Shari’s spokeswoman said at the time.
During that time, Sumner Redstone had resorted to communicating through an iPad preloaded with audio clips of his voice saying “yes,” “no” and “f— you,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Shari barred Keryn and Manuela from Sumner’s house and won the legal battle in 2019. Herzer agreed to pay back the Redstone family $3.25 million — a fraction of the money the billionaire had lavished on her in his final years.
During the recent interview with The Post, Keryn took some responsibility for going against the family.
“I am accountable for my actions but they have gone out of their way to make my life difficult.” she lamented.
Sumner died in 2020. He was 97.
After his death, Keryn Redstone lived a peripatetic life, moving to rental apartments in Colorado, Northern California, Pennsylvania and Virginia, she told The Post.
She also has dabbled in the movie business, being named as one of the executive producers of the 2021 horror film “The Last Thing Mary Saw” along with the late Bruce Wasserstein’s daughter Scoop.
The movie, set in 1843, tells the story of a murdered strict family matriarch and the role her youngest daughter, who had a relationship with the maid, played in the killing.
Shari Redstone, meanwhile, got control of Sumner’s business and completed the CBS-Viacom merger in 2019.
Under Shari’s watch, Paramount Global shrank in value from a $31 billion market cap at the time of the merger in December 2019 to what is now an $8 billion company.
Paramount’s 45-day “go-shop” window ends Aug. 21 before it is expected to accept the Skydance offer.
The five Sumner grandchildren will get 40% of the proceeds, roughly $140 million each, sources with knowledge of the patriarch’s final will told The Post.
Sheri Redstone, 70, has three children — Tyler Korff, 38, Brandon Korff, 40, and Kimberlee Ostheimer, 42.
Ex-wife Phyllis Redstone, 99, is also slated to get 40% of the proceeds, while Shari will pocket the remaining 20%, about $350 million, the sources added.
Phyllis has lived recently in one of the bungalows at The Beverly Hills Hotel in California, one source told The Post. It is not known who stands to inherit her sizable fortune. She also received a $100 million cash settlement after her 52-year marriage to Sumner Redstone ended in divorce in 2002, according to the Los Angeles Times.
While Keryn still hasn’t patched things up with her high-profile aunt, she said she now enjoys a good relationship with cousin Tyler Korff, an ordained rabbi.
As for what the future may bring should she score the big check from a Paramount sale, Keryn declined to discuss specifics.
Keryn said she loves and wants to be around animals.
“Give me 1,000 horses, cats and dogs and I’m good,” she said.
