Amy Carmen Lawsuit: Trust Dispute and Rolling Stone Defamation

Amy Carmen, the widow of Raspberries frontman Eric Carmen, is involved in two federal lawsuits in Ohio. In April 2026, a judge dismissed a trust dispute brought by her late husband’s adult children, who had accused her of cutting them out of his estate; that dismissal is now on appeal at the Sixth Circuit. Separately, Amy Carmen is the plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit she filed in August 2025 against Rolling Stone, its parent company Penske Media, journalist Andy Greene, and three of Eric Carmen’s relatives over a January 2025 article she calls a “hit piece.”

The Trust Lawsuit Her Stepchildren Filed

Eric Carmen died in March 2024 at age 74, leaving an estate estimated at $10 million. Most of his wealth sat in a 2007 trust holding copyrights to more than 130 songs, a catalog that as of 2015 generated roughly $600,000 to $800,000 per year in royalties.¹

In late June 2024, Eric’s children from his first marriage, Kathryn and Clayton Carmen, sued Amy in Cuyahoga County Probate Court. They accused her of secretly rewriting the trust to disinherit them, alleging she transferred it from Ohio to South Dakota in 2017, modified its terms to strip their inheritance and royalty rights, and diverted assets for her own benefit. They also alleged Amy had undermined their relationship with their father, screening his phone calls and threatening them over attendance at his memorial.¹

Amy’s attorney, Jessica Forrest of Reminger Co., responded that the children had been estranged from their father for years and were pursuing his money, and that Amy was defending Eric’s “long-standing wishes.” Her filings pointed to a 2016 diary entry in which Kathryn wrote that she and Clayton had “discussed killing Eric.” Kathryn has described the entry as private ramblings and denied any real intent to harm her father.²

Why the Case Was Dismissed

Amy’s team removed the case to federal court in Cleveland, where it was assigned to U.S. District Judge David Ruiz as Case No. 1:24-cv-01331.³ The case turned on a prior settlement. In 2019, Eric Carmen’s ex-wife Susan and their two children had sued Eric in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. That case settled in March 2020 for $100,000, and the settlement contained sweeping release language: the children and their mother agreed to discharge Eric and Amy Carmen from “any and all claims… from the beginning of time and onwards… whether such claim was known or unknown.”⁴

On April 2, 2026, Judge Ruiz granted Amy’s motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed the case with prejudice. He ruled that the alleged conduct — the modifications to the trust — had occurred before the 2020 settlement was executed, placing those claims squarely within the release. The judge called the settlement language “clear and unambiguous” and wrote that “the express terms of the Settlement Agreement clearly intended to settle all disputes between the parties.” He rejected the children’s argument that claims not actively litigated in 2019 could not be released: “Plaintiffs cite no authority suggesting that a settlement of a lawsuit cannot include the release of claims that were not actively litigated.”⁵

Forrest said the ruling confirmed the late musician’s “careful planning” in protecting his trust and his wife.⁵

The Appeal

Kathryn and Clayton Carmen filed a notice of appeal on April 29, 2026. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit acknowledged the appeal the following day under Case No. 26-3397. As of mid-2026, no briefing schedule has been set and the appeal remains in its early stages.³

Her Defamation Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone

On August 11, 2025, Amy Carmen filed a separate federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Ohio against Penske Media Corporation, Rolling Stone journalist Andy Greene, and three members of Eric Carmen’s family: his children Clayton and Kathryn and his brother Fred. The 55-page complaint, filed as Case No. 1:25-cv-01671 and assigned to U.S. District Judge Charles Fleming, alleges defamation and false light and demands a jury trial.⁶⁷

The article at issue, “Eric Carmen Was a Power-Pop Legend. Then He Vanished,” was published January 19, 2025 and written by Greene. It drew on interviews with Eric’s children, brother, ex-wife Susan, and Amy herself, and examined his reported embrace of right-wing conspiracy theories, his support of Donald Trump, chronic alcohol abuse, and his withdrawal from public life. Clayton was quoted describing his father as “a manipulative, paranoid, isolated person” in his later years. Amy told the magazine she “loved Eric and stood by him through the tough times” and described the family members as “barnacles” in his life.²

What the Complaint Alleges

Amy’s complaint identifies at least 15 passages in the article she alleges are false or misleading. Among the specific claims she disputes:

That Eric’s drinking was as severe as the article described; the complaint says the piece “grossly exaggerated” his alcohol consumption.
That Eric was kicked off a Ringo Starr tour in the early 2000s.
That Amy was an “evil” stepmother.
That Clayton considered his father’s death “bad news.”
That Eric was a “neglectful father, bad husband, and paranoid ex-celebrity.”

The complaint calls the article a “Frankenstein monster born of a warped alliance between embittered family members with axes to grind” designed to “ravage the reputations” of both Eric and Amy Carmen. It also asserts the piece was motivated in part by Eric Carmen having “dared to cross the imaginary line that forbids artists and entertainers from supporting the Republican Party.”⁸

Where the Case Stands

All five defendants have moved to dismiss. Penske Media and Greene filed their motion in October 2025, arguing Amy failed to state a viable claim. Clayton and Kathryn filed a separate motion the same month, invoking Ohio’s expedited-relief statute for certain speech-related claims. Fred Carmen filed his own dismissal motion in March 2026. Amy has filed oppositions to each. As of late May 2026, the court had granted extensions for Fred Carmen’s reply brief, with a deadline of June 26, 2026. No rulings on any of the motions have been issued, and the case remains pending before Judge Fleming.⁷⁹

1
Cleveland.com. Raspberries Frontman Eric Carmen’s Wife Cut Kids Out of Trust, Lawsuit Says
2
Rolling Stone. Eric Carmen Was a Power-Pop Legend. Then He Vanished
3
PACER Monitor. Carmen et al v. Carmen
4
CaseMine. Carmen v. Carmen, Case No. 1:24-cv-01331
5
Cleveland.com. Judge Sides With Raspberries Frontman Eric Carmen’s Widow in Trust Dispute
6
Bloomberg Law. Rolling Stone Sued for Defamation by Late Rock Singer’s Widow
7
CourtListener. Carmen v. Penske Media Corporation
8
Cleveland Scene. Eric Carmen’s Widow Sues Rolling Stone, Alleging January Hit Piece Defamed Late Musician
9
PACER Monitor. Carmen v. Penske Media Corporation et al