The Sting star appointed Forrester to take charge of his Newman's Own company prior to his death in 2008, but the actor's daughter, filmmaker Susan Newman, claims the businessman has not honoured agreements to give the star's kids a say in the firm's operations, which donates 100 per cent of all profits to charities worldwide, through the Newman's Own Foundation.

In a new Vanity Fair article, Susan declares, "I will not be muzzled any longer. Some family members may be angry at me for speaking out, but I feel like the Newman family has been taken hostage by Bob Forrester...

"I was told each daughter would inherit a million dollars... and my father would set up foundations for each of us... funded with up to $30 million or more per daughter."

Susan goes on to allege the sisters were also promised seats on the Newman's Own board, but claims, "We had the rug pulled out from under us."

However, Forrester maintains he is simply carrying out Newman's last wishes.

Responding to the accusations, he states, "Paul never thought of Newman's Own as a family enterprise... At one time, he was giving some thought to having one daughter on each board serving a time-limited term, but ultimately decided against doing so."

He adds, "Everything we are doing today is in line with Paul's way of doing things."

Susan is Newman's daughter from his first marriage to Jackie Witt, the mother of his son Scott and another daughter, Stephanie.

The actor went on to have three more daughters with his second wife, Joanne Woodward.

Woodward has declined to comment on the Vanity Fair article.