Producer Joel Silver Exonerated In Wrongful-Death Suit Filed Over His Assistant’s 2015 Drowning In Bora Bora – Update

UPDATED, 3:12 PM: A Los Angeles judge has exonerated The Matrix, Die Hard and Lethal Weapon producer Joel Silver from civil liability in the drowning death of his personal assistant during a 2015 trip to Bora Bora. Read details of the case below.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dennis J. Landin on Friday granted Silver’s motion to dismiss the part of the case filed against him by
the parents of Carmel Musgrove, who maintained Silver should be held secondarily liable for the actions of his chef, Martin Herold, in allegedly plying their daughter with alcohol and drugs before she drowned.

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Silver’s lawyer, Matthew E. Voss, argued that Musgrove’s death was not foreseeable on the part of his client and did not occur during the course and scope of the producer’s employment of Herold. Ronald and Ann Musgrove brought their lawsuit in August 2017, alleging that their daughter had been overworked and furnished with cocaine during the trip by Herold, with whom she was allegedly in a romantic relationship.

PREVIOUSLY, August 18, 2017: The family of former Joel Silver assistant Carmel Musgrove has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Hollywood producer, his Silver Pictures and his personal chef surrounding Musgrove’s death in August 2015.

The 28-year-old Musgrove was found drowned in Bora Bora by local authorities on the beach near the Four Seasons Hotel where she was vacationing with Silver, his family and employees. Musgrove’s friends had started searching for her after attempts to reach her the night before were unsuccessful. She was found in the early morning hours in a lagoon near her hotel room.

The lawsuit (read it here), filed by Musgrove’s parents and her estate today in Los Angeles Superior Court, says a French investigation revealed that over-consumption of alcohol and cocaine, fatigue cause by overwork, heat stroke and “a midnight swim during unfavorable conditions” led to her drowning.

The suit alleges that Silver’s chef Martin Herold provided Musgrove with cocaine, and “the Silver Defendants, themselves or through their agents, committed wrongful acts by furnishing Carmel with excessive amounts of alcohol, furnishing her with cocaine, creating excessive fatigue by requiring performance of work functions during the Silver’s [sic] family vacation” which included her suffering heat stroke during a fishing trip.

It claims those acts “caused, or contributed to the cause of Carmel’s death.”

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