In April 2018, TMZ reported that a former business associate of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee had gotten his hands on some of Lee’s blood without the comic book legend’s consent.
According to the story, the unnamed man forged a document giving him the authority to get a blood sample from Lee. So much blood was apparently taken that Lee—who was 95 at the time—was said to have gotten dizzy in the process. Several vials were believed to have been obtained, unbeknownst to anyone else from Lee’s camp.
The reason for this alleged blood heist? To sell it to his fans, of course. Later that same month, Lee filed a lawsuit against his ex-business manager, Jerry Olivarez, who he accused of setting up a phony charity in order to sell comics stamped with the stolen blood—among other things. Hands of Respect, as the charity was called, claimed that Lee’s blood was drawn with “his full support and at his urging,” but Lee insisted that wasn’t the case.
The Strange Legal Battle Over Stan Lee’s Allegedly Stolen Blood
“Lee never approved of the use of his blood as a merchandising item, or for any other use,” the lawsuit stated. “Naturally, this compounded Lee’s grief and angst and caused him tremendous emotional distress.”
Evidently, several Black Panther comics had been stamped with the blood and were being sold in Las Vegas prior to the suit’s filing. Each issue came with a certificate of authenticity explaining that it contained Lee’s “solvent DNA ink.”
Lee died that November, but the legal battle continued for another four years. In July 2022, Lee’s estate moved to dismiss the claims made against Olivarez. The agreement’s terms were never made public. Olivarez’s attorney blamed the dispute on unidentified individuals who manipulated Lee and his family into unfairly maligning Olivarez.
“These individuals exerted undue influence on the Lee family to accuse Jerry Olivarez of harmful acts which he did not do,” the lawyer said in conclusion.
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