Stevie Wonder's Ex-Fiancée Calls Him a 'Manipulator' Amid Fight Over Home
Stevie Wonder's former fiancée is firing back after the music legend filed a lawsuit to evict her from the Hollywood Hills home she has lived in, rent-free, for nearly four decades.
Carmen Efferson, 68, says Wonder promised her the house in a verbal agreement in the late 1980s. Now, she is calling the 76-year-old singer "a gaslighter and a manipulator."
Why Wonder Is Suing
Wonder, whose legal name is Stevland Hardaway Morris, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on Oct. 22, IBTimes UK reported. The three-bedroom home on Oak Glen Drive is estimated to be worth about $2 million, and the property remains in Wonder's name.
According to the complaint, the trouble started this summer when Wonder's representatives tried to arrange an insurance inspection of the home for a policy renewal. A July 23 email told Efferson an inspector would enter on July 30. Two days later, she replied that she would not allow them in, that she was "feeling harassed" and that she did "not consent" to the inspection, Local 12 reported.
Representatives tried to get into the home three times over the summer, LatiNation reported. Court documents also reference a profane email Efferson allegedly sent to Wonder's attorneys. A 30-day notice to leave was posted the day after her reply, with a deadline of Aug. 27. Efferson did not move out, and a further notice was served on Oct. 6.
Wonder's attorneys are asking the court to end the verbal arrangement and order her removal. They are also seeking legal fees, statutory damages over what the complaint calls "malicious" possession of the home and $275 per day in fair rental value.
Efferson Tells Her Side
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Efferson said she never wanted the house to begin with. "I didn't even want the house at first, but he kept insisting," she said, adding that the two "came to an agreement, a verbal one, that this would be my house."
She did not hold back about Wonder. "He's going to paint this like I am the one who is lying, and there is no talking to this fool," she said. "Nobody wants to say this, but I know that he is a gaslighter and a manipulator."
Efferson also says she has paid for the home's upkeep out of her own pocket and considers it her long-term home. She claims the deed was first placed in the name of Wonder's late manager, Rod McGrew, with plans to transfer it to her later. Court records show no such transfer took place.
She has said she plans to contest the eviction case in court.
A Romance That Began on Tour
Efferson worked as a choreographer and artistic director on Wonder's "In Square Circle" tour in 1986, and the two became romantically involved, according to the Daily Mail.
In January 1989, she told the National Enquirer that the couple planned to marry that March. The wedding never happened. At the time, tabloids also reported that Wonder had proposed to another woman on the East Coast. He never married either woman and has not addressed those reports.
Efferson stayed in the Hollywood Hills house with her daughter from a previous relationship, with Wonder's permission, according to her account. She has lived there since 1988.
What Happens Next
Wonder has not commented publicly on the case, and his position is known only through the eviction complaint. Neither side has signaled a settlement.
The court will now decide whether the decades-old verbal agreement can be ended and whether Efferson must leave the home she has lived in for 38 years.
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