After making controversial remarks claiming Elvis Presley died by suicide in Amazon Prime’s Elvis’ Women documentary earlier this year, his stepbrother David Stanley is issuing an apology.
On Tuesday, Stanley took to social media and said he’s “sorry” for alleging Presley “couldn’t carry on” due to guilt from allegedly having relationships with minors ahead of his death at age 42 in 1977 in the film earlier this year, noting that there’s “no excuse” for making the claim.
“I am sorry for the derogatory comments I made in a documentary about Elvis that was filmed last year,” wrote Stanley, 67, alongside a photo of himself and the King of Rock and Roll. “There is no excuse for my comments and I can fully understand why you would be angered.”
He added, “I love and will always love Elvis and being part of his family. He is more than worthy of the love you have for him. He loved you. I love you and all I can ask of you is for you to forgive me for my irresponsible actions.”
In Elvis’ Women, according to Irish Mirror, Stanley claimed Presley felt so much guilt from fraternizing with minors that he “just couldn’t carry on” and feared public exposure.
“His taste for young girls, aged 15 or 16, made me sick,” the “Jailhouse Rock” singer’s stepbrother reportedly said in the film. “I told him that it’s a miracle he didn’t get busted. He got away with things most people didn’t, because of his money, fortune, fame and power, charisma and magnetism. Elvis could talk the socks off you.”
Per the outlet, Stanley added in the doc, “He premeditated taking the medications that killed him. Love, hurt, pain, exposure — he just couldn’t take it any more.”
His apology arrives after he claimed via a since-deleted Facebook post that he never made such comments, according to the New York Post’s Page Six.
“This is pure bulls—!!! I never said that and anyone who believes I would say such a horrible thing is a fool,” Stanley reportedly wrote.
Elsewhere in the Facebook post, per the outlet, Stanley said he would be consulting with his “attorney” about challenging headlines written about his reported quotes in the documentary.
Stanley, who worked as Presley’s tour bodyguard, previously wrote a memoir about their time together called My Brother Elvis: The Final Years. He wrote that his job requirements toward the end of the “Blue Suede Shoes” performer were more like “babysitting,” adding, “I felt more like a nursing home aide.”
He told PEOPLE in 1989, “I wasn’t able to fully grasp what was happening, and was no match for Elvis in the throes of addiction,” and added, “I had this naïve belief that Elvis could do anything, even overcome a prescription drug addiction.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
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