NEED TO KNOW
- Donovan Michaels filed to dismiss a lawsuit against estranged husband David Geffen on Oct. 17 “without prejudice,” according to documents obtained by PEOPLE
- In the lawsuit, which was filed in July, Michaels sued Geffen for failing to provide “lifelong support” amid their ongoing divorce
- Geffen filed for divorce in May
Donovan Michaels has dropped a civil lawsuit against his estranged husband David Geffen for an alleged breach of contract.
On Friday, Oct. 17, the former dancer, 32, filed to dismiss a lawsuit against the billionaire and former record executive, 82, “without prejudice” in the Los Angeles Superior Court, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Lawyers for Michaels and Geffen did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in July, Michaels (who also goes by David Armstrong), sued Geffen for failing to provide “lifelong support” amid their ongoing divorce.
Per the complaint, Michaels claimed that after they separated, Geffen was in “breach of express oral contract” and “breach of implied contract” for “denying” him “full financial support.”
Michaels’ lawyers also claimed in the complaint that Geffen evicted Michaels and “cut him off from his status quo financial support.”
At the time, Geffen’s lawyer Patty Glaser told PEOPLE that “there was no contract—express, written, oral, or implied—that has ever existed.”
She continued, “We will be vigorously and righteously defending against this false, pathetic lawsuit.”
Geffen filed for divorce from Michaels on May 16 after less than two years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split. Their separation date was listed as Feb. 22, 2025. Per the filing, the former couple did not sign a prenup before marrying in March 2023.
According to the May filing, Geffen — whose net worth may be around $8.7 billion, per Forbes — was willing to pay Michaels spousal support, as well as his attorney fees. Then, on May 27, Michaels filed a formal request for spousal support, attorney’s fees “all other relief the Court deems just and proper,” according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
A court order was then issued on May 27, requiring both Geffen and Michaels to share their financial information.
Spousal support “typically lasts less than the length of the marriage. In California, [Michaels] also would be entitled to half of Geffen’s earnings during their marriage,” according to Rolling Stone.
Though the exes haven’t shared how they met, in the July filing, Michaels claimed that Geffen sought him out via the website SeekingArrangements.com, and “paid Michaels $10,000 for sex” on “the very first night they met.”
David Geffen and Donovan Michaels.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
“Over time, what began as a paid sexual relationship evolved into a Marvin-type partnership. Geffen told Michaels he loved him and the two would treat one another as life partners, share all assets equally, and Geffen would support Michaels financially for life,” the complaint alleged.
“In 2023, Geffen and Michaels married. No prenup. No protections,” the complaint continued, claiming that Michaels gave “his body, his love, his labor, his youth” in order to keep Geffen satisfied.
After the relationship fell apart, which Michaels claimed turned into a “calculated pattern of abuse and commodification,” the July complaint alleged that Geffen responded by “cutting him off, demanding a divorce, and breaching his years-long promises and agreements with Michaels.”
“This case exposes a stark power dynamic, echoing Trading Places in its portrayal of a marginalized young man allegedly exploited by a billionaire hiding behind a façade of philanthropy,” Michaels’ legal team said in a statement to PEOPLE in July.
In the July complaint, the former dancer requested that Geffen “provide adequate support necessary to pay Michaels reasonable general living expenses for the rest of his life [and] that Geffen provide Michaels with his own home.”
