Tom Petty’s Daughter Calls Heartbreakers selfish, unreliable people and drug addicts

Tom Petty‘s widow is saying she cannot properly manage his estate because she believes the late rocker’s daughters are teaming up to push her out of managing his estate.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Dana Petty is asking the court to execute an operating agreement that would appoint a manager with day-to-day authority with herself and Tom’s daughters, Adria and Annakim, have equal authority and participation.

Dana is requesting that all “significant decisions” require consensus between the three because majority voting would allow for the two daughters to exert their will over her.

In her petition, Dana claims “she has gone above and beyond to seek to work cooperatively with Tom’s daughters” but they have made that difficult.

“Although Petitioner did everything in her power to treat Adria and Annakim as family,” she writes, “sadly, they, and in particular Adria, have repeatedly demonstrated their resentment over their father’s love of Petitioner and her role in his life.”

Dana claims that Adria has been abusive towards her, Tom’s personal and business managers, his attorney, and even Tom’s legendary band, The Heartbreakers.

She says that Adria’s “erratic behavior has made it exceedingly—and increasingly—difficult to carry on business and has threatened the Trust’s business dealings and important relationships with the Heartbreakers, Tom’s record labels (which are critical to the ongoing success of the franchise), and Tom’s longstanding management team.”

Dana points to the hiring of a man named Larry Jenkins, a manager she claims Adria brought in without permission. She claims that Jenkins has actually been great (she wants him appointed manager under the new operating agreement) but claims Adria “became disappointed as she learned that Mr. Jenkins was not going to allow Adria to run roughshod over him or Petitioner, that Mr. Jenkins intended to include all voices in the process and to make recommendations he believed were in the best interest of Tom’s legacy.”

Tom Petty’s widow points to two instances where she feels Adria’s behavior harmed the estate professionally.

She claims when a “Greatest Hits” album was in the works, “Adria and Annakim vetoed and overrode virtually every decision Petitioner, Mr. Jenkins, and the record company had already made, at great financial cost.”

In another instance, Dana claims she was working with Warner Bros. to release a 25th-anniversary version of “Wildflowers” which included unreleased music.

But Dana claims Adria intervened and rejected “an enormously important and lucrative offer” of over $1 million (before costs) without consulting Dana.

Dana claims she “cannot relent any longer” and wants the court to approve the operating agreement she has proposed.

Adria filed documents of her own, claiming her father’s will called for Tom’s daughters and widow to “participate equally in the management of the Artistic Property Entity.”

Dana says the daughters have conspired to push her out and adds they’re making it impossible to manage the Estate.

As for the unreleased tracks, Dana claims in the lawsuit, filed by attorney Adam Streisand, both daughters, but mostly Adria, have gone off the rails … directing their anger at everyone in Tom’s orbit, including the surviving members of The Heartbreakers.

Dana points to an email directed at the surviving members — Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell —  in which Adria rants, “What I don’t have the temperament for is having my entire life raped. Being disparaged. My dad being disgraced. And being surrounded by selfish, unreliable people and drug addicts.”

She goes on … “I am sorry i am not a man and can not earn your respect through the work and deeds I do.” And, the daughters are blocking the release of new solo tracks that Petty had recorded 25 years ago. Dana says she wanted to include the tracks in a 25th-anniversary box set release of his smash hit album, “Wildflowers.”

Dana claims the release would produce upwards of a million bucks in royalties … possibly more, but the daughters have blocked it. The suit claims Adria gave no real reason for her objection, other than to say the timing was off.

And, there’s this … Tom had a deep connection to the city of Gainesville, Florida, where he was born.  The City renamed a park in Tom’s honor and asked someone in the Estate to create artwork for a sign. The rep submitted a well-known image of Tom from one of his album covers.

The lawsuit claims Adria approved the artwork, only to later fire off an email to the rep, saying, “Your name is not Petty and you don’t have the backbone to protect the estate from a horrible image like this one. Shame on you.”

Dana wants an order from the judge asking him to appoint a day-to-day manager for the Estate, and to force Adria, in particular, to act rationally.

Tom died in 2017 of an accidental drug overdose.