Entertainer Wayne Newton is being sued by a Las Vegas woman who claims the veteran crooner’s pet monkey bit and injured her daughter during an invited visit to Newton’s showpiece mansion in October 2017.
Jocelyne Urena seeks at least $15,000 in damages on behalf of her daughter, Genevieve, in a civil negligence complaint filed Wednesday in Nevada state court in Las Vegas.
Urena’s attorney, Marc Naron, and Newton representatives did not immediately respond Thursday to messages. An attorney who has represented Newton in the past said he’s not involved in the case.
Genevieve’s age and the nature of her injuries are not described in the complaint, which alleges the monkey attacked without provocation during a tour of Newton’s gilded former estate, Casa de Shenandoah.
The lavish 40-acre (16.2-hectare) property southeast of the Las Vegas Strip was home to “Mr. Las Vegas” for more than 40 years. It featured gardens, pools, stables for Newton’s prized Arabian horses and a menagerie of exotic animals also including flamingos, penguins and even a sloth.
Newton sold it in 2010 to investors under the name CSD LLC who opened a tourist attraction and museum. The company also is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
An attorney for the investors at that time said Thursday he no longer represents them.
Newton and his family moved in 2013 to another home.
Now 77, Newton has performed for 60 years. His best-known songs include his signature “Danke Schoen,” his 1965 version of “Red Roses for a Blue Lady,” and “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast” in 1972.