Welcome to River Deep Blog, where today we’re diving into the tangled web of intrigue surrounding Leonard Cohen. It's a story of deception, manipulation, and a fake informant that kicked off a public smear campaign against Kelley Lynch in the fall of 2004. By the spring of 2005, Cohen had crafted a perfectly curated narrative to spin to the media during private meetings with journalists—one that would soon make headlines. This story wasn’t just about so-called missing money but also Cohen’s massive tax issues and a lawsuit Neal Greenberg filed against Cohen and his lawyer Robert Kory, complete with accusations of extortion, conspiracy, and witness tampering. And smack in the middle of it all was Lynch.
Let’s set the scene: an iconic artist, millions of dollars gone missing, hints of tantric sex (yes, really), and a lawsuit dripping with scandalous details—all against a backdrop of a broken relationship with a long-time associate. Sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster, right? But this wasn’t fiction; this was Leonard Cohen’s real-life soap opera, with Neal Greenberg, a self-proclaimed Tibetan Buddhist, suing the soulful poet-turned-Zen Buddhist Cohen. The battle that ensued wasn’t pretty. Neal Greenberg accused Cohen of conspiracy and extortion, while Cohen retaliated, accusing his former financial and investment adviser of gross mismanagement. It was a legal drama that aired Cohen's dirty laundry, exposing some of the inner workings of his finances—a tale of betrayal that was anything but poetic.
The Players in This Drama:
So, who were the key players in this twisted tale? Leonard Cohen, the legendary singer-songwriter with a reputation for soul-searching lyrics and deep spirituality, suddenly found himself caught in a web of his own deceit, as revealed by his personal manager, Kelley Lynch.
Kelley Lynch, Cohen’s savvy Los Angeles-based personal manager, had been with him through thick and thin, skillfully handling the complexities of Cohen's business while maintaining a close personal friendship with Cohen and his family. Kelley was also a Tibetan Buddhist with an unconventional outlook on life. She had a child with Steve Lindsey, a renowned record producer. And it was Lindsey who introduced Kelley to Betsy Superfon—a name that would become central to this messy saga.
Now, Betsy Superfon was no stranger to high-stakes drama. A gambling, pill-popping con artist with a flair for the dramatic, Betsy had met Steve Lindsey during a game of Texas Hold 'Em at a club one night. She wasted no time sinking her teeth into Lindsey’s circle, with an eye toward meeting celebrity acquaintances and friends—people like Cloris Leachman, Dr. Dre, and Eminem. Betsy was one of those people who surrounded herself with shady characters—gamblers, addicts, con men—you name it. She was always looking for a way to leverage her connections. Superfon also understood that Kelley had her own celebrity friends, such as Oliver Stone and Steven Seagal, and was close friends with enlightened Tibetan Lamas like His Holiness Kusum Lingpa and His Holiness the 14th Sharmapa, who helped guide her through what would become an inconceivable ordeal.
One such shady associate of Betsy’s was Dannon Smith, a self-proclaimed arms and drug dealer who drove a bulletproof Hummer. Dannon thrived in murky situations, the kind where deception was part of everyday life. Betsy introduced Dannon to Julie Eisenberg, daughter of Joel Eisenberg, who had once been her business partner. Julie, fresh from Seattle, was staying with Betsy when she arrived in LA. Soon, Julie and a fabricated informant story would be entwined in yet another one of Leonard Cohen’s “good rock ‘n roll stories” and Betsy’s manipulative schemes.
The Informant and the Deception: In an email to Kelley, Julie Eisenberg recounted the details of her encounter with Leonard Cohen's supposed "informant," who turned out to be none other than Julie’s boyfriend, Dannon Smith. Betsy had sent Dannon to Leonard Cohen’s house, presenting him as someone with information about Lynch. Smith had once picked Julie up at Lynch’s management office, and during that drive, Julie pointed out Cohen’s house to him. But here’s the truth: Dannon had nothing whatsoever to offer Cohen about Kelley. Betsy told Julie she just wanted to impress Leonard and worm her way into his good graces, using Dannon to achieve that. She wanted to be part of Cohen's glamorous world, no matter what lies she had to spin. - Dannon Smith visits Lorca Cohen
A Luncheon for the Record Books: Before things got even more twisted, Kelley had taken Julie along to a lunch with Cohen. Julie had been helping out at Kelley’s greeting card business for a week while Kelley took a short vacation. When Kelley returned, she brought Julie with her to lunch to meet Cohen. Julie was young, blonde, and beautiful—just the kind of woman Cohen liked to charm. And charm he did, writing to Kelley afterward, “You really know how to hurt a man,” referring to the presence of what he felt were two gorgeous young women at lunch. Cohen’s charm had always worked on women; it was his way of getting people to fall under his spell, but this time, it really made Kelley laugh.
Cohen's Need to Control the Narrative: Cohen’s paranoia and obsession with control were at the heart of this entire debacle. He wanted to portray Kelley as the villain while positioning himself publicly—and perhaps ultimately to authorities like the IRS—as the unsuspecting victim: an elderly artist betrayed by his once-loyal manager. Using people like Betsy and Dannon as tools, Cohen tried to manipulate the beginnings of his manufactured narrative to shift focus away from his financial and tax irregularities.
Cohen was a master of spinning stories—whether it was about his alleged involvement in the Bay of Pigs, working as CIA reconnaissance, or even participating in CIA MK Ultra experiments. He knew how to work the press, and they lapped up his tales, embellishing them until they became almost mythical—like his highly embellished “good rock ‘n roll” gun story about Phil Spector. After all, a good story sells—and the wilder, the better.
Kelley Takes Action: During all of this chaos, Betsy also knew that Kelley was alarmed by the communications she was receiving from Cohen and his representatives. Many of these emails appeared to involve tax fraud, so in September 2004, Betsy referred Kelley to her own accountant, Dale Burgess. Kelley fired her previous accountant and hired Dale Burgess—a CPA with experience in the IRS Criminal Division. Dale reviewed Cohen’s entity tax returns immediately and referred Kelley to tax lawyers and litigators. Kelley, being the smart businesswoman she was, kept all of this documented for the IRS, FBI, and DOJ.
Poor Betsy—she didn’t quite get what she was hoping for when it came to Kelley’s legal team. Neither Dale Burgess nor Kelley’s lawyers were giving her the time of day. In fact, they actually booted Betsy right out of a meeting she had the nerve to show up for, trying to get in on Kelley’s discussion with her attorneys. It was about some pretty serious stuff too—allegations of tax fraud involving none other than Leonard Cohen. Betsy was out of luck when it came to getting the juicy details. Kelley’s lawyers were very clear on one thing though: once you learn about fraud, there’s no turning a blind eye. You have to report it. So, on April 15, 2005, Kelley did exactly that—she reported the tax fraud to the IRS. She even doubled down, letting Kory know in an email to the SEC (who were already sniffing around Neal Greenberg) that she had indeed taken action and reported it.
And that’s when Cohen and Kory really went on the offensive. They called in public relations firms, assembled an army of high-powered lawyers, and were on a mission to take Kelley down. They even spilled the beans to Greenberg about their pre-meditated game plan—they were going to use restraining orders to silence Kelley, crush her, and ultimately destroy her and her sons. Pretty shocking language for a so-called tortured poet and his team to use against someone who had once been a trusted confidante and manager, don’t you think?
A Sinister Plot and Perjured Declarations: And the drama kept on coming! Years down the road, Julie reached out to Kelley with another bombshell: Cohen, Betsy, and a few others were plotting yet another retaliation—this time a custody battle over Kelley’s young son. And guess what? Their plan took shape. Cohen and his lawyer submitted a totally fake declaration to the court, and just to add some extra fuel to the fire, they lied to Kelley’s son’s father, saying she had a fling with Oliver Stone while they were together—anything to stir the pot. For the record, Oliver Stone has publicly stated that Kelley was never his "lover," and Kelley has vehemently denied these lies as well.
It was all about squeezing Kelley into a corner, putting her under immense pressure so that she’d agree to settle. Sure, Cohen would pay her what he owed, but there were some serious strings attached: they wanted her to throw his professional team under the bus and blame the whole tax mess on them. Even though Kelley was owed a lot of money, she wasn't willing to compromise her integrity for it—it simply wasn't the truth, and she wasn’t about to go along with the lies.
Manipulative Dynamics and Lies, Lies, Lies: The relationships between Cohen, Betsy, and others in this twisted tale were built on manipulation and deceit. Betsy's erratic behavior—from instructing her maid to escort Julie out of her house to spreading lies about her also—was classic con artist behavior. She thrived on creating drama and keeping herself at the center of it. Cohen’s willingness to work with people like Betsy and use Dannon as his “informant” only highlighted how desperate he was to control his public image. Superfon, as Julie revealed to Kelley, would later worm her way into Cloris Leachman’s life, always looking for her next opportunity.
Ann Diamond, a friend and former lover of Cohen’s, described him as a "gifted fabricator" and "master manipulator." She saw firsthand how Cohen could charm the world while secretly controlling and deceiving those closest to him.
Julie herself summed it up perfectly: Leonard Cohen was a quiet old man who had been marketed brilliantly by, among others, Kelley herself. To the public, he was an enlightened artist; behind closed doors, he was a man obsessed with secrecy and manipulation.
Esalen, Tantric Classes, and Cohen’s Control: As if things weren’t already bizarre enough, Neal Greenberg—the financial adviser suing Cohen—told Kelley that he was taking tantric sex classes at Esalen. Kelley found the whole thing absurd. As a Tibetan Buddhist, she viewed Greenberg as a fraud, and the idea of him seeking “spiritual enlightenment” in such a way seemed laughable. This was just one more strange detail in a sea of manipulation and deceit.
Kelley believes that Cohen and Greenberg worked together to craft this entire legal drama: Greenberg’s lawsuit against Cohen and Kory, followed by Cohen’s own lawsuit against Lynch and his tax lawyer, Richard Westin. It was all about obscuring the truth, misleading the public and authorities like the IRS, and ultimately controlling the narrative while attempting to destroy Kelley. Leonard Cohen and Neal Greenberg, his investment and financial adviser
Conclusion: Unmasking the Real Leonard Cohen: So, there you have it: the darker side of Leonard Cohen—the side that was hidden behind his soulful lyrics and charming persona. The so-called informant story, featuring Betsy Superfon and Dannon Smith, was just one of many ways Cohen used deception to control his public image and discredit those he saw as threats. It’s a side of Cohen that’s a far cry from the wise, peaceful figure adored by millions. As these events unfolded, the real Leonard Cohen begins to emerge—a man driven by paranoia, questionable ethics, fear, and an unrelenting need to control those around him. Through the insights provided by Julie Eisenberg and others, it’s clear that beneath the mystique was a story of manipulation, misinformation, deception, and the desperate lengths one man would go to protect his carefully constructed legacy.
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