David, who has a history of drug and alcohol addiction, was adopted by Vidal when he was 3 1/2-years-old. He was born to a white mother in Memphis, Tenn., which was racially divided at the time of his birth. He was given up for adoption after birth because he was biracial; his father was black. Sassoon adopted David when it wasn’t popular for white celebrities to adopt black children.
“At the time, it was very unusual for celebrities to adopt other ethnicities. These days everyone is doing it. I’m not saying Dad did it to help his image but it certainly generated good press,” offers David, who left his foster family to live with Vidal and his second wife, actress Beverly Adams, in Beverly Hills.
He continues, “Everything had to be perfect. We kids had to be perfect. If we angered him he would stop talking to us. That was the pattern of my life. His was conditional love. He used material wealth to control the family. If you were doing what he wanted, he showed his love in monetary gifts. When you were bad he’d take his money away. It was his way or the highway. My childhood was a misery because I wasn’t perfect enough. I didn’t fit into the image of what a ‘Sassoon kid’ should be.”
The first time David was disinherited was shortly after his sister Catya overdosed in 2002. They had partied together for New Years. Vidal threatened to disown David a second time if he didn’t have laparoscopic stomach surgery to get rid of the weight he gained from lack of exercise following a motorbike accident.
David says he isn’t resentful toward his dad.
“He did the best he could. He was from that generation that believed in tough love. People think I should be mad he cut me out of his will but he was always cutting me out of his will. That was his way of controlling me when I fell out of favor. But he didn’t leave me nothing. The only reason I’m talking now is to say that he was generous and that I’m not broke – I’ll get money from various trusts,” he said.
David sets the record straight. He inherited $2 million 90 days after Sassoon died from the CEDE Trust, an acronym for Catya, Elan, David and Eden. He is also expecting inheritance from two other trusts – the Vidal Sassoon Family Trust and the Sassoon LLC Trust – as well as a payment from Vidal’s life insurance.
However, David’s siblings, Elan and Eden, along with Sassoon’s fourth wife, Rhonda, will be given a share of his $6.7 million will. The remainder of Sassoon’s $130 million fortune is tied up in various trusts.
Today, David lives in Palm Desert, a golfing community three hours from Los Angeles, with his wife Molly. They’re planning the grand opening of a tapas restaurant named Sasspers after his childhood nickname.
