Star Trek icon Nichelle Nichols‘ friends are furious at her son, Kyle Johnson, for selling the actress’ home and refusing to allow them to see her.
Nichols and Johnson are pictured above at the 18th annual Official Star Trek Convention at the Rio Hotel & Casino on July 31, 2019 in Las Vegas.
Nichelle’s longtime friend, Angelique Fawcette, and former manager, Gilbert Bell, previously criticized Johnson for what they claim is mismanagement of his mother’s conservatorship.
Nichols, pictured on March 5, 2021, suffers from dementia, and Johnson was appointed conservator of his mother and her estate in 2019.
But the news only came to light after Bell shared upsetting video footage with an Atlanta television outlet that shows the 88-year-old actress screaming.
In the video, Nichols could be heard screaming after seeing what her former representative claimed were legal guardianship documents.
Now, The Los Angeles Times reports that Johnson has sold his mother’s former mansion in Woodland Hills, California, for nearly $2.2 million.
Fawcette and Bell are furious. They claim Johnson sold the mansion without his mother’s knowledge and moved her to a small rental property in New Mexico.
“She’s been like a mother to me,” Fawcette said of Nichols, pictured with the Star Trek cast in 1979.
“It’s been horrendous. It’s been painful to watch her go through this experience,” said Fawcette.
“When the house was sold, I was very hurt for her. She has no place to go back to anymore. It hurt me because I knew that it would hurt her. She stated that she wanted to remain in her home, yet the court let her son move her out.”
Bell adds:
“Her home is gone. It’s been sold out from under her. She would be horrified if she knew that. She was proud of (the house). She designed it. She helped build it. She planted the trees on it. It was a dream come true for her.”
Meanwhile, Johnson tells The Los Angeles Times in an email the proceeds of the sale have been added to his mother’s conservatorship account, and that she is living with him at the rental property in New Mexico.
“We have moved here, and we’re going to remain here,” he said, explaining their rental home is “a little more modest than being in Los Angeles, but meeting our needs.”
But Nichols’ friends, who claim they have not been allowed to visit her since 2019, remain heartbroken.
“This is a very special woman,” Bell concludes.
Fawcette adds, “I will always keep my promise to fight for Nichelle.”
