Paul Newman is one of the icons of Hollywood — but what went wrong after he died?
How did his family fall apart?
And what does all this have to do with a bottle of salad dressing?
Keep watching to find out.
Three-time Oscar winner and eight-time nominee Paul Newman was something of a jack-of-all-trades.
As an actor, director, producer, philanthropist, and businessman, Newman led a life of considerable
substance — one that people continue to revere years after his death.
Newman had a rustic sway about him that seemed to merge his unapologetic confidence with
a neighborly kind of tenderness.
He truly was one of the most beloved characters of all time, both on and off screen.
First and foremost, though, Paul Newman was a family man.
He loved his wife and children deeply, and he even co-founded his now iconic food brand
Newman's Own with his daughter Nell in the early '90s.
Naturally, the focal point of his will was Newman's Own, among various other assets that
comprised his estate.
However, the process of allocating his estate, including all its financial assets, was anything
but seamless.
You've seen the logo plenty of times: Paul Newman's welcoming smile and unmistakable
blue eyes that shine even through a printed label across a bottle of salad dressing or
a package of fig newtons.
Maybe you even have a bottle of Newman's Own dressing in your refrigerator right now.
The ingredients are almost entirely organic, and all sales proceeds are donated to charity.
It's a pretty successful business model.
"What could be better than to hold your hand out to people who are less fortunate than
you are?"
However, things got heated between Newman's family, a business manager named Brian Murphy,
and now-former CEO Robert H. Forrester after the latter two were named co-executors of
Newman's Own — and the entirety of his estate.
The third executor of his will, if one should be chosen, was to be voted upon by his daughters.
Since his death, the battle for control over Newman's Own has become an ongoing struggle
between those who survived the late actor.
As Newman's daughter, Susan Kendall Newman, told Vanity Fair:
"Whether my family will go public [with our complaints] or not, there isn't a single living
Newman who respects or has faith in Robert Forrester and his management of my father's
food company, Newman's Own Foundation, or the continuation and protection of his legacy."
According to the actor's family, the direction and handling of his $600 million dollar estate
was mishandled by Forrester, who they believed to be an unreliable executor.
Little has been achieved, however, in the way of transferring business powers over to
Susan Kendall Newman or any of her siblings, despite their best efforts.
Perhaps the most damning hurdle for Paul Newman's family is the No-Contest clause attached to
his will.
This basically means that anybody who attempts to challenge the will's contents will be instantly
removed from it.
Details of the seemingly endless grappling over Paul Newman's estate are lengthy and
somewhat confusing, but basically, lots of people are not happy with who wound up with
what.
Susan Newman has described the handling of her father's company as, quote, "lavish and
self-aggrandizing."
Not everything went to Robert Forrester and Brian Murphy, though.
The bulk of tangible household assets as well as royalties from various other affiliate
companies, went to his wife, Joanne Woodward.
It wasn't Forrester's handling of the will that would ultimately get him in trouble,
however, but his behavior at the Newman's Own corporation.
In 2019, Robert Forrester was stripped of his titles as president of the Newman's Own
Foundation and CEO of Newman's Own after female workers levied allegations of "inappropriate
behavior" at him.
A committee set up by the board of directors quickly removed Forrester and appointed Jennifer
Smith Turner as interim president and CEO.
Remarks from Forrester have remained sparse following his departure from Newman's Own,
though he stated in July of 2021 that:
"We made great progress during my years at Newman's Own; we accomplished a great deal,
but we also made our share of mistakes, and if there were 'do-overs in life, there are
certain things I would have done differently."
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