Chester Bennington's ex-wife awarded half of his Linkin Park royalties two years after his suicide
The former wife of Linkin Park star Chester Bennington is receiving a massive chunk of his estate.
Samantha Olit was awarded around 50% of his estate's Linkin Park royalties to her, as per documents obtained from TMZ.
Chester Bennington had taken his own life at the age of 41 in his family home in Palos Verde in 2017 while his wife Talinda and their children had been out of town.
TMZ revealed that Talinda had been named as the executor of his estate and had signed off on Olit's royalties claim.
The royalties "[includes] a share of the non-touring merch, publishing rights and a share of the master sound records." The claim had originally demanded child support as well as royalties but the support part was left out.
Olit and Bennington were married between 1996 and 2005 and share a son together, Draven Sebastian Bennington. After the two had divorced, Bennington went on to marry Talinda Bentley whom he had three children with.
Throughout his life, Bennington had been very open about his struggles with depression, alcohol, and drug abuse. His lifeless body had been found by his maid on July 20 when she went to his room to tell him that an Uber had arrived to pick him up from home. Ever since his death, his widow has made it her mission to shine light on suicide and mental health.
Talinda has been working as an executive adviser for the Campaign To Change Direction and as co-founder of 320 Changes Direction to spread awareness about mental health. She also managed to find love again post the death of her husband. In the introduction to her public letter, she wrote, "A death of a soulmate does not mean the death of you."
"My family, friends and my Linkin Park brothers welcome him to the family with open arms. I will continue to honor Chester and continue my life's mission to make his passing not in vain [SIC]. you can be happy again. You can have space in your heart for grief, joy, happiness, sadness, and love love," she shared.