Priscilla Presley Said Elvis Would’ve Gone ‘Ballistic’ if He Knew She Was Dating Robert Kardashian
After Elvis and Priscilla Presley divorced, she began a relationship with Robert Kardashian. They dated for several years, and she tried to conceal the details from her ex-husband. While Priscilla and Elvis were on friendly terms, he hated it when she dated other people. At one point, Elvis called Priscilla while she was in bed with Kardashian. She had to make sure Elvis didn’t know she was with, or she thought he could become violent.
Priscilla Presley said Elvis would have been furious if she knew about Robert Kardashian
Priscilla began dating the late patriarch of the Kardashian family in 1975, not long after her divorce from Elvis. Though their marriage ended, they remained in frequent contact.
He once called her at 2 a.m. to talk to her about a show. Priscilla was in bed with Kardashian at the time, and she panicked. After jumping out of bed and rushing down the hall, she was able to take Elvis’ call in private. Priscilla said she feared her ex-husband’s reaction if he knew she was with another man.
“Despite our divorce, he still couldn’t wrap his head around my being with someone else,” she wrote in her book Softly, As I Leave You: Life After Elvis (via Rolling Stone). “He’d have gone ballistic, maybe literally, if he’d known Robert was in my bedroom.”
She worried Elvis would react with violence. He owned many guns and was known to shoot them wildly, even when faced with a minor inconvenience.
“Elvis always carried a loaded gun, sometimes more than one,” she wrote. “I put my hand over my mouth to stifle the sound of my yawn while Elvis continued to talk.”
Her fears were not entirely unfounded, according to his entourage
According to Elvis’ entourage, Priscilla had a reason to worry. Just before the end of her marriage to Elvis, Priscilla began an affair with karate instructor Mike Stone. They went public with their relationship after the divorce. During one 1973 concert, Elvis became convinced that Stone sent people to kill him after a group of drunk men stormed the stage.
“There is too much pain in me, and he did it. Do you hear me? I am right,” he told his bodyguard Sonny West, per the book Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. “You know I’m right. Mike Stone [must] die. You will do it for me — kill the sonofab****, Sonny, I can count on you. I know I can … He has no right to live.”
Elvis continually pushed his entourage to find a hitman to deal with Stone. Eventually, his friend Red West said he found a man who would kill Stone for $10,000. When he told Elvis, though, the singer thankfully backed down.
“Aw, hell,” he said. “Let’s just leave it for now. Maybe it’s a bit heavy. Just let’s leave it off for now.”
Priscilla Presley reconnected with Robert Kardashian before his death
Priscilla’s relationship with Kardashian eventually ended. Years later, when he was sick with cancer, though, they reconnected.
“Robert and I had one last conversation before he died,” Priscilla wrote. “He was the kindest of men, and I remember him with great affection.”
She said his daughter, Kim Kardashian, connected them.
