Stevie Wonder said Thursday that his now-dead longtime attorney Johanan Vigoda made the blind music legend sign a contract that paid royalties to the lawyer and his family indefinitely—without telling Wonder what the legal agreement said. In court documents, Wonder says he signed the contract at the age of 21, and hadn’t been told the terms stated the Vigoda family would be paid in perpetutity. Vigoda’s widow has filed a countersuit against Wonder for the payments he ordered halted in 2011.
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.
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