Editor’s Note: Earlier we mistakenly posted a photo of Paula Banks a/k/a Queen Paula Banks that we said was Essie Berry. The photo above is the correct one. We apologize to both for the error.
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*The widow of “What’s Happening” star Fred “Rerun” Berry alleges Steve Harvey continues to harass and bully her, and that the TV host’s “cronies” have threatened her and her family members, according to new court documents reported by RadarOnline.
In an affidavit filed on Aug. 10, 2018, Essie Berry says she continues to fear for her life and has lost her livelihood due to Harvey’s actions. Berry first sued the entertainer in March seeking $5 million for damage to her reputation, harassment, witness intimidation and infliction of mental anguish and emotional distress.
Harvey denies all of Berry’s allegations, and has accused her of joining forces with his ex-wife, Mary Vaughn, in a “quixotic campaign” to tarnish his reputation.
In her latest court filing, however, Berry said her complaint has zero to do with Harvey’s relationship with Vaughn. In the Aug. 10 affidavit, Berry said she remains blacklisted from the entertainment industry because of Harvey.
She also claims Harvey’s “cronies” continue to make and post threats against her on YouTube and other websites, which has resulted in her losing potential sources of income.
Read excerpts from the affidavit below, via Radar Online:
“From 2013 – August 2018, the Defendant and known affiliates have harassed, bullied, stalked, silenced, threatened, and intimidated Ms. Berry,” the affidavit obtained by Radar said. “Furthermore, the Defendant went at great lengths to make Ms. Berry’s life a living hell. The Defendant manipulated media and entertainment outlets with his mistruths and caused intentional harm to Ms. Berry’s health and likeness without any apparent justification. She lost contracts and wages as a result of the defendant’s actions.”
“Mr. Harvey promptly filed a demurrer to Ms. Berry’s rambling and incoherent original complaint,” wrote Kimberly Chemerinsky, one of Harvey’s attorneys, in a June 21, 2018 affidavit. “That challenge was mooted days before a hearing when Ms. Berry amended her pleading to assert new claims and theories. Through the present demurrer, Mr. Harvey seeks to end Ms. Berry’s continued misuse and abuse of the judicial system. Her operative pleading remains woefully deficient under even the most relaxed pleading standard. It purports to plead claims that do not exist.”
Nevertheless, Berry alleges Harvey is behind the threats that she and family continue to receive.
“Ms. Berry filed numerous reports to local enforcement and other reporting agencies to restrain the Defendant from constant harassment, which was granted in the State of Arizona in 2013 prior to his retaliating attempt at a restraining order that was in direct violation of the protective order granted to the Plaintiff,” Berry wrote in the Aug. 10 affidavit obtained by Radar.
“On two occasions in 2017, the Defendant sent an unidentified male to Ms. Berry’s family members home after business hours.”