The longtime girlfriend of the late Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein is in a tug of war with his son over at least $1 million in artwork she claims her beau gifted her before he died in 2009.
Iris Keitel lived with Klein — a gruff, aggressive businessman who some blame for the Beatles breakup as much as they blame Yoko Ono — for over 20 years in his E. 58th Street apartment, even though he was still married to his estranged wife.
Now Klein’s son, Jody Klein, is accusing Keitel of hauling 15 pieces of pricey artwork and furniture to her new pad including a $120,000 painting by Jeanne Rij-Rousseau.
Jody, who now runs his father’s recording label ABKCO with its lucrative copyrights on songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards as well as The Who’s Pete Townsend, claims his father “didn’t give gifts” so was unlikely to shower his companion with the pieces.
The alleged property snatch is also the subject of a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit brought by ABKCO last year, claiming that Keitel was hanging on to an original John Lennon drawing titled “Let’s Have a Dream” that belonged to the label.
Keitel was notably excluded from Klein’s will, which left the bulk of his estate to his wife and his three children. But Keitel’s attorney, Leonard Baum, said the recording giant made “significant provisions” for his client outside of the will.
julia.marsh@nypost.com