Casey Kasem's Kids Claim They're Being Kept from Ailing Dad

[Zoneboy]

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Casey Kasem's voice has been heard in homes around the world, but now it seems his own family might not be welcome in his home.

Family members of the 81-year-old radio personality have stated that his health is deteriorating due to Parkinson's disease. His children, brother and others close to him throughout his life also claim Casey's wife, Jean Kasem, is keeping them from seeing him. So on Monday, Oct. 1, family and friends staged a protest outside of Casey and Jean's L.A. home.

Kerri Kasem, one of Casey's daughters from his first marriage to Linda Myers, told L.A.'s ABC7 her stepmother will not answer her phone calls and tells her and siblings Mike and Julie to go away when they knock on the door. "He can't really speak, but he knows we're there," she said. "And last time we saw him, he could shuffle a little bit. He had a hard, very hard, time walking. He was just deteriorating due to Parkinson's disease."

The radio legend's brother Mouner Kasem is also concerned. "I've got a feeling I might not see him again, and that's why I'm here," he said.

Kerri, Mike and Julie say they do not have a relationship with their stepmother, who married Casey in 1980. Jean and Casey have one daughter together, Liberty, a singer-songwriter.

It's not just family, though, who is concerned about the radio personality. Chuck Olsen, a friend of Kasem's for 63 years, told ABC7 no one has been in touch with the star since April 2013.

Casey's daughter Kerri insists they don't want to see the ailing legend in hopes of one day inheriting his fortune. "We don't want to see him go and not say goodbye and not love him and not support him," she said. "We don't know how long he has."

Jean Kasem did not return ABC7 's request for comment.

[SBTB Geek]

Jean Kasem must have her reasons

[80sTrivia]

I did not realize Casey was in such poor health...

[Zoneboy]

A Los Angeles judge declined to create an emergency conservatorship for Casey Kasem, but ordered that a doctor investigate the radio personality and voice actor's diagnosis, prognosis and state of mind as his Parkinson's disease progresses.

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Casey Kasem showed no signs of elder abuse during a recent search of his "nude" body and gets around-the-clock medical care with manicures and pedicures, a lawyer for wife Jean Kasem said Tuesday.

Lawyer Marshall Grossman appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Jean's behalf to oppose a conservatorship bid brought by Casey's adult kids from a previous marriage.

Casey's daughters Kerri, 41, and Julie, 38, filed their petition last week claiming their stepmom has blocked all access to their 81-year-old dad since July, and they're worried the isolation could have drastic consequences considering his advanced Parkinson's disease.

A judge said he didn't see any need for an emergency conservatorship Tuesday after Casey's court-appointed lawyer said he visited the radio legend and found he was receiving "adequate" daily care.

The judge set a follow-up hearing for Nov. 19 and ordered an independent doctor to investigate Casey's diagnosis, prognosis and whether he had the capacity to adequately understand paperwork he signed in 2011 giving Jean power of attorney.

Julie and her physician husband are listed as the proposed conservators in their filing. They appeared in court with Kerri but did not speak to the press.

After the hearing, Kerri approached Grossman and asked if he had children of his own.

Kasem's daughters claim that his wife Jean (seen with their daughter Liberty) has blocked access to their father since July.

"I just want to see my dad," she pleaded, her eyes welling with tears.

Earlier in the hearing, Grossman called the court action brought by the daughters "a sham."

"Shame on them," he said, telling the judge that the daughters contacted social welfare officials and the police with claims Casey was a "prisoner in his own home."


He said social workers and police detectives visited Casey's mansion in the last week and "required" that the entertainment icon "be undressed to see his nude body and look for any signs of corporal punishment or elder abuse."

"There was none," he said.

In a court filing, Grossman described Jean as a "devoted" wife who's giving Casey "impeccable" care complete with the regular manicures, pedicures and hair grooming he received "during better times."

Outside court, Grossman claimed Casey agreed with Jean years ago that it was "toxic" for his adult children to visit the Los Angeles mansion they share with their 23-year-old daughter Liberty.
Kasem was visited at his home by social workers and police to ensure that he was not being abused, after his daughters Kerri and Julie claimed that '"prisoner in his own home.'
Chad Buchanan/Getty Images
Kasem was visited at his home by social workers and police to ensure that he was not being abused, after his daughters Kerri and Julie claimed that '"prisoner in his own home.'

He declined to elaborate on the history of the older daughters' banishment but said Kerri and Julie knew the reason for it "all too well."

"I'm also protecting the privacy of these daughters who may not want the scab taken off of this particular wound," he said cryptically.

Asked by The News if there's any way Jean might willingly negotiate some type of visitation for his three eldest kids before Casey dies, Grossman said he didn't know.

"They have seen their father before he dies, and hopefully he's not dying now," he said.

Kerri previously told The News that she, Julie and their brother Mike spoke to their dad on an almost daily basis and visited with him outside the home before Parkinson's robbed him of his ability to use the phone and venture outside.

She said the siblings felt they were out of options when they staged a protest outside his gated estate with other friends and relatives two weeks ago and gave Jean an ultimatum - either respond to their request access or face court action.

"We've heard nothing, absolutely nothing from her, and we're very worried," Kerri said last week. "My worst fear is that there's neglect and isolation going on."

Jean, 59, became Casey's second bride in 1980 and is best known for playing the ditzy wife of Nick Tortelli on the hit 80s sitcom "Cheers."

"Look, people fight and they don't like each other, and that's fine. But it's cruel to keep us from seeing our dad," Kerri previously told The News. "We don't want any money from Jean. We don't care about that. We were raised well, and we support ourselves."