A lady called Susan Strack just called to say Stevie Wonder owes her $7 million in unpaid royalties.
Strack’s late husband, Johanan Vigoda, worked as the legendary singer-songwriter’s lawyer from 1971 until he died in 2011 and, according to a lawsuit filed last month, Wonder still owes his estate money.
Strack claims Wonder, who has sold over 100 million records and won 22 Grammys throughout his career, had agreed on multiple occasions to pay Vigoda 6 percent of all of his royalties in perpetuity. When Vigoda died, she claimed her husband bequeathed those rights to her. Wonder lived up to his end of the agreement for several years after her husband’s death, but stopped sending her payments in mid-2013. She claimed Wonder also instructed the music companies that handle his royalties to do the same.
Strack claimed she then contacted the record companies and instructed them to resume the royalty payments, but that her efforts were to no avail. Now, she is suing the singer for $7 million, seeking damages for breach of written agreement, intentional interference with contract and conversion.
In other words, this woman who did nothing for Stevie Wonder except maybe make him the odd cup of coffee expects him to pay her around £100,000 a week, which, using her logic, she can presumably bequeath to her children or, indeed, any random stranger in her will! It’s America; stranger things have happened.
Wonder’s representatives could not be reached for comment.
