Stevie Wonder claims his long dead attorney and right-hand man for years tricked him into signing a contract with outrageous terms just because he was blind.
In his recently filed legal documents, Wonder states his longtime lawyer, Johanan Vigoda, made him sign a contract which makes him pay the lawyer's family indefinitely and forever.
He explains that Vigoda placed the papers in front of Stevie's face when he was only 21 years old stating he would pay Johanan 6% of all music royalties. But there's a clause that says payments to the lawyer's family go on "forever."
After Johanan died in 2011 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, Stevie's record company continued to pay Johanan's widow but he says he didn't realize payments were being made for nearly 2 years, and when he caught wind, he ordered payments to be stopped. Wonder says he trusted Johanan and the lawyer never said the 6% would survive his death.
In his docs, Stevie says he was betrayed by a man he trusted and wants a judge to declare he no longer has a duty to pay royalties, because the attorney took advantage of a blind man.
Ironically, Johanan's widow has filed her own lawsuit demanding Stevie pay from the time he stopped and forever in the future. She wants $7 mil minimum.
Jeez!
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