Battle erupts over Crazy Town singer Shifty Shellshock's estate

News.com.au

20 hours ago

The family of late Crazy Town singer Shifty Shellshock are waging a bitter war over his estate that may shock fans across the globe.
Loved ones of the rapper, whose real name was Seth Binzer, are battling it out in a Los Angeles court amid a series of jaw-dropping claims.
London-based model Jasmine Lennard - who previously dated Simon Cowell - had a son Phoenix with the tragic songwriter after they started dating in 2010.
The father-of-three band frontman passed away at his home at the age of 49 in 2024, after a battle with drug and alcohol addiction that spanned four decades.
A year on, and Jasmine is at loggerheads with Tracy Shelor, 42, who had a son Gage with the singer, and who was appointed executor of his estate.
In sensational legal documents seen by The Sun, Jasmine, 40, claims in a declaration that the LA make-up artist is 'not suitable' for the role due to her 'longstanding pattern of criminal activity' and 'emotional instability'.
Ms Lennard blasted Ms Shelor in a sworn statement that alleges she has an arrest for prostitution.
The mum of two Ms Lennard, a former Big Brother star, goes on to claim that since objecting to Ms Shelor's appointment she has received 'multiple written threats from Ms Shelor including to 'ruin my life'.'
The official document objecting to her executor role states: 'Ms Shelor was the only person in the decedent's extended family with whom he had no relationship at the time of his death.
'She publicly exploited him during his battle with addiction, sold stories about him to the press, and instigated legacy actions that further deteriorated his mental health.
'To now seek control of his estate after profiting off his struggles and perpetuating them for years is morally repugnant and legally unsupportable.'
The legal document claims the remaining estranged family members of the troubled singer are seeking a restraining order against Ms Shelor, and they claim she was banned from his private funeral and burial at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA.
But Ms Shelor, who dated the rocker between 2004 and 2008 during his well-documented drug addiction issues, has hit back at Ms Lennard and claimed to The Sun that documents submitted to the court had not been verified.
Ms Lennard's publicly available statement says Ms Shelor has a 'substantial history of legal issues that include criminal charges, arrests and financial instability'.
It states her convictions include a 2010 conviction for driving with a suspended license and 2015 arrest in Nevada for 'solicitation of prostitution' - but she was never convicted.
A chronological timeline of Ms Shelor's arrests, convictions and financial liabilities include 17 incidents since 2001, according to the online declaration.
As well as receiving threats, Ms Lennard claims Ms Shelor has also 'obstructed the legal and necessary process of obtaining US citizenship and a passport for Phoenix by interfering with a DNA testing process requested by the US Embassy'.
Ms Shelor refused permission for a DNA sample to be taken from Gage to help Ms Lennard's son Phoenix have his US citizenship rubber-stamped.
Ms Lennard said: 'Her actions have put my son's legal identity and immigration process at serious risk'.
The next hearing in the increasingly bitter case is due next month.
The Sun understands that Seth's family have accused each other of stealing his fortune and cutting off payments to his dependants since his death.
Royalties from his global hits means he receives up to £5,000 a month ($A10,315) - which has gone to support his three kids.
In 2022, Ms Shelor told The Sun that Seth then owed her more than $64,000 ($A98,000) in child support.
She said he refused to pay any medical costs for his diabetic son with her - while enjoying vacations to Hawaii.
She branded the star a 'deadbeat Dad'.
After contacting Ms Shelor yesterday, she told The Sun of Ms Lennard's sworn court statements: 'Substantively, several assertions are inaccurate, and many are decades old and irrelevant.'
And she said of her rival: 'She filed these after I declined her personal demand for DNA for her son's US passport - a demand no authority has made of me - and stated she would share them with the press.'
Ms Shelor claimed that Ms Lennard's 'actions in this matter have already been reported to the proper authorities.'
Ms Shelor told how she is a formally approved foster parent with completed background checks and home evaluations, with 'a strong professional record and community involvement, without any history to support her claims.'
Seth's family gave thanks for his 'heart of gold' and remembered his 'beautiful soul' in a collective display of unity after his death in a statement to The Sun - before relations turned sour.
Crazy Town once said that having 'been to hell and back' shaped them - and they faced more than their fair share of struggles.
Seth's death is one of many tragedies to strike the band, who rose to fame in 2000 with their single Butterfly and sold 1.5 million of their debut album The Gift Of Game.
Crazy Town initially split in 2003 after eight years together amid claims of wild drug-taking and alcohol abuse that led Seth to enter rehab on multiple occasions.
The singer had a difficult upbringing. He regularly raided his graphic artist dad's drug stash during his childhood and learned to roll a joint at the age of five.
He previously told Rolling Stone: 'My dad was the arty-farty guy who did lots of cocaine and had weed all over the house.'
In Seth's teens he sold weed and harder substances and by 18 was jailed for 90 days after robbing another drug dealer at gunpoint. He recalled the band going on coke and speed-fuelled marathons while writing songs before being ordered into rehab in 1997.
A year later, Seth was in Alcoholics Anonymous and ahead of gigs, the band would regularly recite the AA prayer 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can.'
By 2000, he fell off the wagon and was arrested for throwing a chair out of a window while he was drunk.
In a 2001 interview, Seth admitted he had spent three months in prison for attempted burglary and that he was regularly selling and using recreational drugs.
Throughout the 2000s, Seth battled addiction and sought help on the reality TV shows Celebrity Rehab 1 and 2 and Sober House 1 and 2.
His battle with drugs contributed to his split from his first wife Melissa Clark, who he tied the knot with in 2002 and divorced nine years later, citing irreconcilable differences.
It's unclear when Seth and Melissa, who shared son Halo, parted ways but in 2008, he dated Tracy Selor, who he had another boy with, Gage.
Jasmine Lennard had sole custody of his third son Phoenix, who had a strong relationship with his Dad until his death.