Stevie Wonder’s ex-fiancée, Carmen Efferson, has accused the singer of manipulation and gaslighting. The remarks came after Wonder sought permission from the court to evict Efferson from one of his properties.
Carmen Efferson accused Stevie Wonder of manipulation amid their ongoing housing dispute
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Carmen Efferson criticized Stevie Wonder, saying there is no point in talking to him. Wonder has requested that a California court permit him to evict Efferson from the property where she has been living since 1988. He reportedly filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court to evict Efferson from his Los Angeles home.
She said, “I’m so sick of someone like him always getting away with this s—. Nobody wants to say this, but I know that he is a gaslighter and a manipulator.” Efferson alleged that she was provided with the house in a verbal agreement.
“I didn’t even want the house at first — but he kept insisting. I’ve never been a materialistic person, and I never asked for a house. But we came to an agreement, a verbal one, that this would be my house,” she said.
The formal complaint by Wonder also referenced the verbal agreement, after which Efferson started living in the house in 1988. According to the complaint, the agreement was allegedly breached when Efferson denied entry of insurance inspectors into the home. They visited the home to “conduct an inspection for the purposes of maintaining insurance coverage on the Property,” according to the filing reported by PEOPLE.
The following day, a 30-day notice was sent; however, she did not leave the property. According to the filing, her possession of the property is “malicious.”
Efferson said she has been living a quiet life until last week, when she got to know Wonder was trying to evict her from the house. Wonder said in the filing that the property is still in his name and he has allowed Efferson to live rent-free for years.
Wonder’s attorneys are looking for “forfeiture” of the verbal agreement, “reasonable attorney fees,” and statutory damages resulting from the possession of the property. Wonder dated Efferson on and off since the late 1980s and ended around the same time. They recently engaged in a legal battle surrounding Wonder’s home.