Sylvester Stallone had some secret taped discussions destroyed recently as part of a settlement agreement with his half-sister, Toni-Ann Filiti, who alleged in 1987 that he abused her. Filiti passed away last August.
As part of the settlement, Stallone agreed to pay Filiti $16,666.66 a month and secure a $50,000 trust to pay her medical and psychiatric bills. Though Stallone adamantly denies ever harming his sister, he paid his end of the settlement and saw to it that the tapes were destroyed per their agreement.
Stallone’s mother, Jackie, says that Toni-Ann was hooked on pills and needed money desperately, and that’s the real reason behind the lawsuit.
“Sylvester caved in,” Jackie said. “It was a very serious thing: Toni-Ann blackmailed him. She threatened Sly, quite frankly. This was nothing more than a shakedown. There were too many conflicting stories… At the time [in 1987] he was very hot, and his lawyers said, ‘Give her something just to shut her up.’”
Curiously, there was really no public mention of the lawsuit or the settlement when Filiti died last August of complications from lung cancer, though her son, Edd, did lash out at Stallone on Facebook. He later apologized.
