Stan Lee has been accused of sexual misconduct by nurses who had once been employed to care for the 95-year-old comic book writer and editor in his Los Angeles home.
According to the Daily Mail, “a string of young female nurses” claim that Lee repeatedly groped and harassed them, and demanded to be “pleasured.” The nursing company that employed the women is now reportedly involved in an unspecified legal dispute with Lee. However, no lawsuit has been filed, and no criminal complaint has been made.
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An attorney representing Lee denied the “false and despicable allegations” in a statement to the newspaper, and suggested his client has been a target of extortion: “Mr. Lee will not be extorted or blackmailed, and will pay no money to anyone because he has done absolutely nothing wrong.” The lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter late last month to the company that made the accusations.
A representative for the nursing company confirmed to the Daily Mail that the owner had received complaints from nurses who worked at Lee’s home, and spoke directly with him. The company stopped working for Lee in late 2016. A representative for Vitale Nursing Inc., which currently provides home care for Lee, insists he is “polite, kind and respectful.”
Lee was sued in 2015 by former assistant Shawn Lukaszewicz, who claimed he was wrongfully fired after enduring emotional abuse from the comics creator and his daughter Joan Celia Lee.
Lee’s wife of 69 years, Joan Lee, passed away in July at age 93.