It’s been 18 years since legendary “What’s Happening” actor, Fred “Rerun”  Berry, sadly passed away in 2003, yet years later, his name still made headlines…as the result of Rerun’s widow, Essie Berry. In 2018, Mrs. Berry was embroiled in a heated legal battle with comedian/host, Steve Harvey, who eventually responded to her claims.

Rerun’s Widow’s $5 Million Claims Against Steve Harvey

As we previously reported, in March 2018, Essie Berry filed a $5 million lawsuit against Steve Harvey, accusing him stalking, harassment, and ‘murder of her emotional state of mind.’

In the lawsuit, Essie claimed that in 2013 she was approached to do a reality TV show titled, “Widow, Wives, and Ex Celebrity Wives,” and she asked Steve Harvey’s ex-wife, Mary Vaughn, to join the show. Essie claims when Steve caught wind of her offer to his ex-wife, he proceeded to enforce the sealed gag order that legally prohibits Mary Vaughn from discussing Harvey in public. Mrs. Rerun also claimed that she had no clue there was a sealed gag order in place at that time, but claims Steve then “defamed” her, by allegedly accusing her of being an “extortionist” and “co-conspirator.”

'Steve Harvey's Trying To Destroy Me!' https://t.co/AWfzSlIrSs via @nationalenquirer

— Essie Berry (@ActivistBerry) April 9, 2018

Here’s what was reported:

Via RadarOnline: “Steve Harvey continued to make attempts to shatter and murder Ms. Berry’s emotional state of mind through the Texas court’s with a lie for years,” Berry wrote. “Mr. Harvey made attempts to silence Ms. Berry through malicious prosecution in order to protect his super stardom image. … With feelings of hopelessness and depression, Ms. Berry was forced to be silent for four years in order to protect what little image she had left, and to protect Mary — while Mr. Harvey paraded around making false allegations against both Ms. Berry and Mary,” she continued. […] She also is requesting $5 million and an apology.

Then Steve Harvey responded…

Harvey Took Legal Action: ‘Enough is enough’

In April 2018, it went largely unnoticed by many, that Steve clapped back at Mrs. Rerun and her $5 million lawsuit, in court docs. And it doesn’t look like he had any plans on paying Essie one red cent of what she was asking for at that time:

Via RadarOnlne: In Los Angeles Superior Court documents filed April 9, 2018…Harvey challenges the claims made by…Fred Rerun Berry’s widow, Essie. Harvey seeks to throwout Berry’s lawsuit against him “on the grounds that the complaint fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against Mr. Harvey.”

In the notice of demurrer, Harvey’s team alleges Berry is just an “agent” of Harvey’s ex, Mary Vaughn, and was enlisted to tarnish his reputation. “Thirteen years ago a Texas court entered a divorce decree between Mary Vaughn and Broderick (Steve) Harvey. Unwilling to move on with her life, Ms. Vaughn has engaged in prolonged [pattern] of harassment and vexatious litigation against Mr. Harvey that has resulted in four separate injunction orders and a judicial finding of contempt against her for violating court orders on at least twenty separate occasions. […] “Undeterred, and unrepentant, Ms. Vaughn has enlisted her acknowledged agent, Plaintiff Essie Berry, to continue her quixotic campaign to tarnish Mr. Harvey’s reputation and re-litigate the divorce case. … [Essie Berry’s] “rambling and incoherent pleading is woefully deficient… Enough is enough,” Harvey’s legal team argues.

Harvey’s official court hearing – to dispute Rerun’s widow, Essie Berry’s, claims – was reportedly on June 7, 2018. Then came Mrs. Rerun’s restraining order…

Rerun’s Widow Granted Restraining Order In 2020

In 2020, Black News reported that Essie Berry filed for a restraining order against Steve Harvey:

On August 18, 2020…Essie was finally granted a restraining order from Judge Thomas S. Garza of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County in California. She says that for the last three years, Steve Harvey and his constituents have been using their resources as a vehicle for threatening phone calls, vulgar language, cyberbullying, text messages, emails, and countless other harassment tactics to “destroy her soul.”

She also claims that Steve Harvey has invaded her privacy by placing pictures of her home on the Internet.

Essie is happy about the restraining order but says that she won’t fully feel that justice has been served until she has received an official police report. The local police department, however, seems to be taking the side of Steve Harvey.

She comments, “Steve Harvey is a dangerous and ruthless man that hides behind his riches and fame. There is a dark side that resides within his soul. He is a manipulator, liar, and intimidator that threatens, cheats, bullies, and harasses Black women that he feels has no power.”

On a side note…pretty sure that back in the day when Steve was watching “What’s Happening” on TV, he probably never imagined in a million years that he’d be legally battling “Rerun’s” wife.