“The legend of pop,” Stevie Wonder (76), has filed an eviction lawsuit against a former lover who lived in his home for 38 years without paying a single cent in rent.
U.S. entertainment outlet TMZ reported on the 22nd (local time), citing court documents it obtained, that Stevie Wonder has filed an eviction lawsuit against Carmen Epperson, who resides in a house he owns in Los Angeles (LA), U.S.
According to the complaint, Epperson has lived in the home since July 1988. She moved in based solely on a verbal agreement without a formal lease contract, and her rent was $0. However, Stevie Wonder’s side now maintains that this agreement has ended.
The conflict erupted this summer. Stevie Wonder’s side claimed they attempted to enter the home multiple times for insurance inspections, but Epperson refused. The legal team stated that because they could not conduct the inspections, the home’s insurance coverage was put at risk, and sent Epperson a notice terminating her right to reside in July.
Epperson was required to vacate the home by August 27, but she remains there, leading Stevie Wonder to file the eviction lawsuit with the court.
The standoff between the two sides was quite heated. In an email included in the court documents, Epperson criticized a lawyer for using “the tone of ‘white male privilege’ that is racist and cold-blooded,” demanding he cut off contact, while also interjecting several profanities in the process.
In response, lawyer David Huff countered that the lawyer who first contacted Epperson was neither white nor male. He revealed that his grandfather was a hero of the civil rights movement and warned that continued refusal of inspections could lead to eviction.
What is interesting is the two’s past. According to TMZ, Epperson was in a romantic relationship with Stevie Wonder and was known to have even been engaged to him in the late 1980s. It was around that time that Epperson moved into the home. Stevie Wonder later found another love and married his third wife, Tomika Robin Brace, in 2017.
Stevie Wonder has requested an eviction order for Epperson from the court, while also claiming damages and litigation costs.
Although Stevie Wonder lost his sight shortly after birth, he debuted at age 11 and is a legendary master of American pop who left behind numerous hit songs such as “Superstition,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” He has won the Grammy Award 25 times and also secured the Academy Award for Best Original Song with “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
Source: Adomonline
