The mother of former adult performer Emily Willis is expected to withdraw her lawsuit against a rehab facility after the 27-year-old was left “permanently disabled” following a heart attack.
Willis suffered a cardiac arrest while staying at Summit Malibu, a rehabilitation center in California, in February 2024 as she sought treatment for ketamine addiction. She later entered what has been described as a “vegetative coma.”
Reports say she had been taking around five to six grams of ketamine daily for roughly a year.
Willis, whose real name is Litzy Lara Banuelos, amassed a substantial online following after appearing in more than 700 adult films, beginning in 2018.
After four years in the industry, she retired in 2022 and began focusing on mainstream acting opportunities.
She is now said to be permanently disabled and is being cared for by her mother, Yesenia Lara Cooper, in Utah.
Earlier this year, her family filed a lawsuit against Summit Malibu, accusing the facility and its providers of wrongdoing. The case included allegations listed as “abuse of a dependent adult, professional negligence, negligence and fraudulent business practices,” which the center has denied.
The suit was brought under “personal Injury and torts – Elder/Dependant Adult Abuse,” and set out claims that the clinic failed in its duty of care. Summit Malibu has denied the allegations.
Now, as Where is the Buzz reports, Cooper and the rehabilitation center have reportedly reached a tentative settlement.
On February 24, attorneys representing Summit Malibu told Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young that a conditional settlement had been reached in the case filed by Cooper.
As Law Insider explains, a conditional settlement is a binding agreement filed with the court which will result in a dismissal “on the satisfactory completion of specific terms or result in a judgment without further hearing upon the filing of a declaration establishing defendant’s default.”
Court records indicate a request to dismiss the lawsuit is expected to be filed by September 1.
The settlement terms have not been made public.
Last year, the family’s lawyer shared an update on Willis’ condition, saying she is now able to “move her body somewhat” and make “outward noises.”
In an interview with the Daily Star, he revealed: “She does make outward noises from time to time, she does move her body around some, but her eyes do move, she does track, whether or not she’s understanding exactly what’s going on is hard for us to determine, I don’t know.”
He added: “We are retaining a physiatrist to work as an expert witness on our case who will go to Utah examine her and hopefully be able to give us more info about his expert opinion to what extent she understands what’s happening around her.”
The lawyer also said that although Willis is living under her mother’s care, she still needs to return to hospital periodically because she sometimes requires a level of treatment that can’t be provided at home.
He further addressed speculation that Willis may have developed locked-in syndrome—a rare neurological condition involving near-total paralysis with preserved eye movement—stating she “hasn’t been diagnosed yet”.