A four-decade arrangement ends up in court
Stevie Wonder's legal representatives filed a civil suit against Carmen Efferson on Thursday in a Los Angeles superior court, asking a judge to order her out of his three-bedroom property in the Hollywood Hills. According to the filing, Efferson — reported to be the singer's former fiancée — has occupied the house since 1988, when she and Wonder are said to have reached a verbal understanding that let her stay there without paying rent.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
The dispute sharpened this July, when representatives for Wonder tried on three separate occasions to get inside the house so it could be inspected as part of renewing his property insurance. Efferson turned them away each time, the lawsuit states, and replied to certified mail requesting access with an email to Wonder's lawyer David Huff telling him to stay away and saying she felt harassed.[S1]
Emails, a revoked agreement and a missed deadline
In her messages, Efferson objected to what she characterized as a racist and coldblooded tone of white male privilege and stated that she did not consent to anyone entering the residence where she lives. Huff answered that the letter sent on behalf of Wonder had not come from him but from his law partner, Tempestt Tatum, whom he described as neither racist, coldblooded, white nor male.[S1]
The exchange continued over several more emails before another attorney told Efferson that the oral arrangement with Wonder had been cancelled for noncompliance and that she was being served with an eviction notice setting a move-out date of Aug. 27, 2026. That date passed with Efferson still in the house, which led to Thursday's civil complaint. Wonder now asks the court to remove her from the property and to award $600 in damages, the sum he says he owes because the insurance renewal lapsed. A representative for Wonder did not immediately answer a request for comment.[S1]
