Potentially damning video testimony of a seemingly incomprehensible, confused and crippled Hudson News magnate Robert Cohen — taken during a deposition just three years before his death in 2012 — bolsters the case by his granddaughter that he was inappropriately influenced by his son when he cut her out of his vast fortune.
Samantha Perelman, daughter of the billionaire investment mogul Ronald Perelman and the late New York Post gossip columnist Claudia Cohen, is suing her uncle, James Cohen, in a New Jersey court, claiming he hoarded the family wealth for his own children at her expense.
The Columbia University student, 23, claims her uncle improperly influenced his debilitated father to cut her out of a $600 million inheritance.
The 15-minute video, which was made during a deposition for an unrelated case,brought by Samantha’s dad, Ronald Perelman, in which he claimed the elderly man was not mentally fit to handle his own affairs was shown to Judge Estela M. De La Cruz, who will decide the case.
It shows Robert Cohen, his mouth ajar, his eyes unnaturally wide and his right arm continuously bent against his chest throughout the questioning.
James Cohen has argued that his father was in control of all his personal and business affairs until he died.
The then-83-year-old head of the airport-newsstand empire grunts and moans answers that are translated by a speech therapist during the testimony.
When Perelman’s attorney asks if he intended to divide his assets between his three children, James, Claudia and Michael, Robert makes a noise that the interpreter says is “no.”
But then the attorney poses a query about a business transaction and Robert indicates that he does not remember.
Robert also says he can’t recall then-recent court battles with his former son-in-law, Ronald, over Claudia’s inheritance.
Claudia Cohen died of cancer in 2007 at age 56 and left all her money to Samantha, her only child.
In a telling moment, the video shows Robert staring blankly at a document that was placed close to his face during the videotaped deposition.
He tells the interpreter he can’t read it, meaning he’s unable to perform a skill that would have been crucial to changing his will and disinheriting Samantha at the end of his life.
Robert was testifying in his own defense in the previous case that Ronald had brought against his father-in-law. In that case, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Ellen Koblitz ruled in 2009 that Robert was “functionally competent” and had the capacity to change his will. She also said Ronald’s case was premature since Robert was still alive.