Rita Benson LeBlanc: No family should have to go through this

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Rita Benson LeBlanc says not being able to spend the past two Christmases with her grandfather after their high-profile family feud has been “really traumatic.”

In a rare interview with Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, LeBlanc says despite the legal battles going in Tom Benson’s favor, she’ll “always be a partial owner” of the New Orleans Saints.

Renee Benson, LeBlanc’s mother, along with LeBlanc and her brother Ryan, challenged Benson’s mental competency in court after the billionaire Saints and Pelicans owner disowned them and placed wife Gayle as the recipient of his fortune.

The court battle started in early 2015 and was resolved last week, when both parties announced they had reached a settlement.
The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

Tom Benson said in depositions that his family members tried to kill him and also claimed they had been very hostile toward him, despite the “vast financial and other benefits” he gave them.

Rita Benson LeBlanc, who for years was the face of the New Orleans Saints and served on various NBA and NFL committees, told the sports journal that she still lives in New Orleans, but she says she rarely leaves her house and she doesn’t date.

“I wouldn’t say I’m happy,” she says. “I’m fulfilled. I don’t have a private life. There’s miserable things in the press and miserable things that aren’t being reported. No family should have to go through this.”

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