Riley Keough Shuts Down Talk Of A Presley Family “Curse”

Riley Keough is setting the record straight on the so-called “Presley family curse.” During a Los Angeles stop on her book tour for From Here to the Great Unknown, the actress addressed the public fascination with the perceived tragedies that have haunted her family, brushing off the idea of a supernatural curse.

“I get asked a lot on this book tour, ‘How did I avoid the curse of the Presleys?’ And it’s such a weird question,” Riley told author and moderator Taylor Jenkins Reid during the November 18 event.

For the Daisy Jones & The Six star, the notion of a “curse” is more about public perception than reality. “I think the word ‘curse’ is used because my family are looked at as this not real mythology or something, but really it’s just very common things, like addiction,” she explained. 

“Everyone in here has loved somebody with addiction issues or has lost somebody tragically,” she added.

The idea of a Presley curse has gained traction over the years, fueled by a string of heartbreaking events. These include the stillbirth of Elvis Presley’s twin brother, Jessie, the suicide of Riley’s brother, Benjamin Presley, in 2020, and the sudden death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, in January 2023.

Riley hopes future generations of her family will face fewer struggles. “The hope,” she said, “is that the future generations of our family aren’t going to struggle so much with addiction.”

Following her mother’s passing, Riley became the sole heir to Graceland, the iconic Memphis estate that Elvis left to Lisa Marie in 1977. Riley, now 35, revealed that her new role isn’t as daunting as people might think. “It’s funny, because I’ve spent much of my life and career living in a world where that wasn’t at the forefront,” she said, going on to reveal that after her mom’s death, “there was a lot of attention on it and me.”

Riley shared that her involvement with Graceland began in her twenties when Lisa Marie would often seek her advice. “And my mom was very … if there were things with the estate, whatever we were, I was very involved in it already. So it wasn’t like, ‘Whoa, what is this new thing?’ My mom would come to me with everything,” she stated.

While the attention on Graceland has grown, Riley approaches her role with a sense of calm. According to her, there was a sort of understanding that Graceland would be hers or “all of ours” to manage one day.” Hence, “…there was that awareness and it was something that I was familiar with. That wasn’t a new thing basically, I would say — but I’d say the attention on it was new.”