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Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played the beloved Nyota Uhura in Star Trek, is caught at the center of a years-long conservatorship battle made worse by her bout with dementia, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Kyle Johnson, her only child, claimed his mother could be exploited due to her dementia and sought a petition for her conservatorship, which he won, in 2018. Johnson alleges that Gilbert Bell, Nichols’ former manager, has used his used his influence to take control of Nichols’ assets and personal affairs. Bell, in turn, has filed a lawsuit against Johnson claiming he is orchestrating an “aggressive” attempt to remove him from Nichols’ guest home. (In a countersuit, Johnson accuses Nichols of taking “control over Ms. Nichols’ assets and personal affairs” as her dementia worsened.)
Angelique Fawcette, a friend of Nichols whom the actress named as her successor, claims that Bell left the home in a state of “disrepair” even as he took care of Nichols’ meals and medical appointments—and that Bell proposed that he marry Nichols, prompting concern from her family and friends. However, Fawcette objected to Johnson’s petition for conservatorship as she believes the former actress can manage her own affairs.
If she's got dementia, then she may not be trapped as the article suggests. Sometimes people with dementia, especially advance dementia, have a skewed reality and she may feel like she's trapped but actually her son is protecting her.
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