Billionaire Sumner Redstone said he kicked his ex-girlfriend -- who was the person responsible for his health care decisions -- out of his mansion because she lied to him.

Redstone, 92, who used a profanity to describe Manuela Herzer, said in recorded testimony for a trial that he wanted her “out of my life,” according to a transcript of his answers to lawyers questions. He said he didn’t want her to be the person responsible for his health care decisions.

Redstone’s testimony was played for a Los Angeles probate judge Friday at the opening of a trial to determine whether he was mentally competent when he threw Herzer out of his home in October and removed her from overseeing his medical care. Besides exposing his frailty, including difficulty speaking and eating, the case spotlights Redstone’s fraught relations with his family and the millions he’s lavished on women around him.

The verdict could set in motion a chain of events in which Redstone loses control of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp., media giants worth $42 billion. While Redstone stepped down as chairman of both in February, he still holds majority voting rights through a family holding company, National Amusements Inc. If he’s found incompetent, NAI’s board, including his daughter Shari Redstone and Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, might step in.

The parade of witnesses set to testify about Redstone’s mental health and the alleged plotting and scheming by those around him include ex-girlfriends, geriatric psychiatrists and Redstone’s own nurses. Others will include Shari, with whom he has had a rocky relationship, a granddaughter who claims Redstone needs court protection from his own daughter, and Dauman.

The case is In re Advance Health Care Directive of Sumner M. Redstone, BP168725, Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Source:  bloomberg.com