David Geffen's estranged husband accuses him of abuse, breach of contract

In a legal filing, Donovan Michaels compared his relationship with the mogul to "a sick game" where he "became a prop in Geffen’s theater of virtue."

By Emma Keates  |  July 23, 2025 | 9:39am
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Vogue
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David Geffen's estranged husband accuses him of abuse, breach of contract
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David Geffen’s ex-husband, Donovan Michaels, is suing the billionaire film and music producer for abuse and breach of contract, Los Angeles Times reports. The pair, now 82 and 32 years old, married in 2023 (sans a prenup, per LA Times) before Geffen filed for divorce this past May. They’d met in 2016 on SeekingArrangements.com, a dating site that pairs affluent, often older individuals with singles in exchange for some sort of monetary compensation. One the night they met, Geffen allegedly paid Michaels $10,000 to have sex with him.

In his complaint, Donovan alleges that the billionaire promised to take care of him financially but left him destitute and homeless. “It was a sick game,” the complaint reads, comparing the relationship to the plot of Trading Places. “Michaels became a prop in Geffen’s theater of virtue, paraded around as evidence of Geffen’s supposed altruism, while privately used as a sexual commodity.”

The suit goes on to claim that Geffen—who signed major artists like Joni Mitchell and the Eagles in his capacity as a record executive before co-founding DreamWorks Pictures in 1994—would often expect Michaels to use a variety of drugs alongside the billionaire’s friends on his 450-foot superyacht. The complaint also alleges that Geffen was dominating in bed, which caused Michaels pain and triggered upsetting memories of his childhood. Michaels was raised in the foster system where he regularly experienced both emotional and physical abuse, according to the complaint.

Michaels also accuses Geffen of “critiqu[ing] every aspect of Michaels’ appearance,” as well as telling him “where to go, what to wear, what to read, what to watch, and what to say,” and requiring him to submit to extensive painful cosmetic treatments.

Michaels says he began reevaluating the relationship after he entered treatment for addiction earlier this year. When he returned, he allegedly told his husband he “wanted a new beginning wherein he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Geffen as an equal free from power dynamics that existed.” 

Geffen allegedly responded by cutting Michaels off and denying him financial support “commensurate with his lifestyle” as well as his share of the assets acquired while they lived together. The complaint further alleges that Geffen ordered Michaels to vacate their New York residence while he was attending Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’ wedding in Italy in June.

“While Geffen holds himself out to the public as an extraordinarily charitable man whose foundation gives millions and millions of dollars to advocacy and support groups for the homeless and disadvantaged populations… he is simultaneously endeavoring to render Michaels impoverished and homeless,” the complaint reads. Michaels’ attorneys argue that an alleged oral agreement between the two should entitle Michaels to “having his living expenses covered for the rest of his life and an equal division of all properties subject to the agreement.”

Geffen’s lawyers, on the other hand, pushed back on these claims. “There was no contract—express, written, oral, or implied—that has ever existed,” his lawyer, Patty Glaser, said in a statement. “We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit.”

 
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