Riley Keough almost removed the story of Ben from Lisa Marie’s memoir

Riley Keough almost removed the story of her late brother, Benjamin Keoughfrom mom Lisa Marie Presley‘s memoir — but decided against it.

“My brother’s body was something I thought about taking out, but my mom was so — on tape — not giving away like — that people would know,” Riley, 35, said during an appearance Thursday, Dec. 12 on Jenna Bush Hager‘s “Open the Book with Jen” podcast..

Riley wrote and helped publish Presley’s memoirs posthumously, From here to the Great Unknownin October. In one chapter, Presley—who died from a heart attack at age 54 in 2023 – recalled leaving her son Benjamin’s body inside her home “for two months” after his death in 2020 (Benjamin died by suicide at the age of 27.)

“I think it would scare anyone else if their son was like that,” Presley wrote. “But not me.”

Related: Riley Keough reflects on the ‘brutally difficult’ last decade of Lisa Marie’s life

While completing the late Lisa Marie Presley’s posthumous memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, Riley Keough discovered new details about her mother’s final days. “In the years before she died, my mother, Lisa Marie Presley, began writing her memoirs. Although she tried different approaches and sat for many book interviews, she couldn’t figure out (…)

After thinking it over, Riley decided that “there’s no part” of Presley that cares what people say. So, that anecdote was included in the book.

Riley noticed that From here to the Great Unknown is a “pretty honest portrayal” of her late mother. The actress’ goal was to be “as truthful as possible” when completing the memoir. “I was protective of her,” she added.

“I think when my brother passed away, she didn’t want to write about anything but my brother. And she wanted to write about grief, but she had already started, you know, an autobiography,” Riley explained during Thursday’s episode of the podcast. “And so, she was confused about what to do.”

Presley asked Riley to help with memoirs before she died. Following her death of mother in 2023the Daisy Jones & The Sik the star finished the book. Presley’s and Riley’s account of what happened are marked in different fonts.

In her reflection on Benjamin’s death, Riley recalled telling her that mother that he died. “We all knew my mom was going to die of a broken heart,” she wrote of Presley after Benjamin’s death.

“I think she really wanted it to be elegant and true to her, but she also didn’t like to talk about herself and was very shy.” So I think her thought was like, ‘You know me better than I know me,’” Riley explained to Bush Hager. “This very thing that was incomplete I was the only person who could finish it.”

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