Emily Willis’ settlement has been approved after the former adult film performer suffered a catastrophic brain injury while staying at a California rehabilitation center in 2024. The $3 million resolution follows a civil lawsuit brought by her mother, Yesenia Cooper, who alleged the facility failed to respond properly as her daughter’s health deteriorated.

Willis, 27, is expected to receive about $1.25 million after attorney fees and liens are deducted, according to court documents filed July 15 and reported by E! News. Cooper will remain her conservator because Willis, whose legal name is Litzy Banuelos, is considered incapacitated.

What happened after Emily Willis entered rehab?

Willis entered Summit Malibu, a rehabilitation facility near Los Angeles, on January 27, 2024. According to the complaint initially filed by Cooper, she was seeking treatment for an addiction to ketamine and had been consuming between five and six grams per day for roughly a year.

The lawsuit said Willis weighed 100 pounds when she arrived, about 16 pounds below what was considered a healthy weight for her. She was also experiencing incontinence and night terrors. Despite those symptoms, the complaint alleged she was not referred to a physician or nutritionist after admission.

Facility records later documented a series of worsening symptoms, including:

  • Hot and cold chills
  • Headaches and hand tremors
  • An increased heart rate
  • Night sweats
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Poor hygiene and an unkempt appearance

Multiple drug screenings came back negative, according to the suit. Cooper alleged that staff members still failed to arrange appropriate outside medical care as Willis’ condition declined over the following days.

How did Willis suffer her brain injury?

On February 4, 2024, Willis was found unconscious in her room at the facility. Paramedics performed CPR for approximately 30 to 40 minutes before restoring her pulse, the lawsuit said. She was then taken to a local hospital and spent several weeks in intensive care.

Doctors were never able to determine exactly what caused her to stop breathing, family attorney James A. Morris wrote in a court declaration filed earlier this year.

Willis survived, but the prolonged loss of oxygen caused an anoxic brain injury. Morris said she “cannot move her body” and is not expected to recover.

“She is effectively frozen,” he stated. “She does sometimes open her eyes, but her eyes do not always track movement in the room. She does sometimes grunt.”

The description makes clear that the settlement is not simply a financial dispute. Willis, a 15-time AVN Award winner, now requires continuing care and cannot manage her own medical or legal affairs. Cooper’s role as conservator gives her responsibility for making those decisions on her daughter’s behalf.

What did the lawsuit allege against the facility?

Cooper accused the rehabilitation center of “neglect, abandonment, recklessness and negligence in failing to provide care and treatment.” She argued that the facility knew, or should have known, Willis could not care fully for herself and depended on staff for her safety and health needs.

The complaint also cited Willis’ history of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Cooper alleged that the facility’s failures caused her daughter to experience “irreversible brain damage and permanent physical and mental incapacity, pain, suffering and emotional distress.”

Malibu Summit denied wrongdoing in its court filings. The facility argued that Willis refused staff members’ efforts to have her evaluated at an urgent care center or emergency room when her condition became worse.

E! News said it contacted attorneys for Malibu Summit for comment but did not receive a response.

The approved settlement resolves the civil case and provides money for Willis’ care, although fees and outstanding liens will substantially reduce the amount available to her. It does not change the central reality facing her family: two years after she entered treatment, Cooper remains responsible for a daughter who, according to her attorney, has been left permanently unable to move or communicate normally.