Aaron Kaplan,
the prolific TV producer, has been accused in a lawsuit of installing
cameras in his sister-in-law’s bedroom — with one focused on her closet —
in order to spy on her...
Aaron Kaplan, producer of “The Chi,” “Santa Clarita Diet” and other
shows, has been embroiled in a probate fight with his sister-in-law
since the death of his brother, Joe, in July 2018.
In a probate filing in February, Aaron Kaplan acknowledged that he
arranged for the cameras to be placed in the closet because he worried
that Elizabeth Kaplan would break into a safe that held valuables
belonging to her late husband’s trust...
According to Elizabeth Kaplan’s lawsuit, two weeks after she returned to
the couple’s home in Malibu, she and her mother discovered two cameras
in her husband’s closet in the master bedroom. The suit alleges that the
second camera was positioned such that it pointed at Elizabeth Kaplan’s
closet...
In his probate filing, Aaron Kaplan said he became suspicious soon after
his brother’s death, when he heard that Elizabeth’s friends had been
seen entering the Malibu house and that artwork had been removed from
the walls.
“Based on consultations with his attorney, the Trustee understood
that he could — and should — have motion-activated cameras installed in
Joe’s personal closet to monitor and protect those assets for the
beneficiaries of Joe’s Trust,” Aaron Kaplan’s attorneys wrote.
According to the filing, the cameras captured Elizabeth Kaplan and
her mother rifling through Joe Kaplan’s belongings in search of cash.
They also allegedly hired a locksmith to try to break into the safe, in
spite of instructions from Aaron’s attorney that the contents belonged
to the separate trust.
The video also captured Elizabeth discovering
$10,000 in cash, counting it out, and pocketing it, according to the
filing.
The recordings stopped once Elizabeth and her mother discovered
and disabled the cameras. more