Stallone Half-Sister 'Abuse' Settlement, Secret Tapes Revealed

Details about a Sylvester Stallone settlement from nearly three decades ago are just now coming to light. It involves Stallone's half-sister and allegations of abuse.

Toni-Ann Filiti accused Stallone of abusing her in the 1980s, the New York Post reports. Stallone denied, and continues to deny, all of the allegations.

Admitting no fault, Stallone in 1987 agreed to a settlement with Filiti, in which the "Rocky" and "Rambo" star agreed to a massive payout. But the settlement documents also reveal there were secretly taped conversations which, according to the Post, "could reveal more about Stallone's bizarre family."

What was initially known about the settlement was that Stallone agreed to pay Filiti tons of cash. For starters, he agreed to pay her $2 million in a lump sum, and then $16,666.66 a month for life.

He was also to set up a trust for her, and was to pay into that trust $50,000 a year for "psychiatric and medical expenses."

What was not initially known was that the settlement also provided for the destruction of six cassette tapes (remember those things?). Four of those six tapes contained secretly recorded conversations between Stallone and Filiti. More tapes may be out there somewhere, the Post reports.

What did those tapes reveal? Apparently some family discord over Filiti's abuse claims, which Stallone's mother told the Post was a "shakedown" by Filiti to get money from her then very famous half-brother.

The terms of Filiti and Stallone's settlement, however, offer a few legal lessons for those of us who aren't famous. It shows how allegedly unsubstantiated claims of physical abuse, and the hassles of dealing with a lawsuit, can lead a person to just settle a dispute out of court, even when he insists he did nothing wrong.

In fact, settlements often stipulate that the accused party admits to no wrongdoing. Corporations with huge bank accounts often use this tactic after a cost-benefit analysis determines whether it's worth it to fight a lawsuit in court.

So to end the dispute with his half-sister, Sylvester Stallone apparently opted to settle her abuse claims. Filiti died of lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 48.

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