Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Latest Tom Benson news: Feels 'fine,' gets support from other granddaughter

Another granddaughter of Tom Benson -- one who is not involved in the lawsuit against the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans owner -- said Thursday that she is “brokenhearted that other family members have chosen to publicly harass and humiliate the patriarch of our family -- the very person who is responsible for giving them everything they have.”

Dawn Jones, who is the daughter of Benson's deceased son, Robert Benson, released a statement to several media outlets, including The Associated Press, to publicly state her support for her grandfather.

Jones said she spent time with Benson recently and communicates with him regularly and has witnessed "nothing that warrants" a lawsuit asking a judge to declare him mentally incompetent to handle his own affairs.

Benson’s only living child, Renee Benson, and her children, Rita Benson LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc, filed suit against Benson last week after the 87-year-old owner announced plans to hand over control of his vast business empire to his third wife, Gayle Benson, in the event of his death.

Dawn Jones, who lives in Austin, Texas, has never been involved in Benson’s business matters, including the sports teams. But Benson set up a trust for her in 1991, according to the New Orleans Advocate. And she said in her statement that she has a “great relationship” with Benson and his wife.

In other Benson-related news:

  • Benson attended the Pelicans game on Wednesday night and did a brief interview with Fox Sports New Orleans sideline reporter Jennifer Hale. He answered questions about the Pelicans and Saints before being asked about the questions that have been raised about his health and mental state. “You know, people got something wrong ... there’s nothing wrong with me. I’ve been at the office every day, putting in a full day’s work, and I feel fine.” See the video here.

  • Both the Advocate and The Times-Picayune dove deeper into the topic of what it will require for Benson to pull control of the Saints and Pelicans out of a trust set up for his former heirs. Benson has the right to remove the teams and replace them with assets of equal value, though there’s a debate over what that process still needs to entail. The Advocate detailed Benson’s latest proposal to replace the teams. The Times-Picayune explained that Benson already maintains all of the voting shares in both teams.

  • The Times-Picayune’s Jeff Duncan wrote further about what kind of owner Gayle Benson is expected to be, including comparisons to other female owners of NFL and NBA teams. And The Advocate cited sources who expressed confidence that Gayle Benson will be approved by both leagues, despite a history of lawsuits filed against her when she was in the interior design business in the 1980s and 1990s.

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