True Old Schoolers remember actor, Ernest Harden Jr.,from his roles in various sitcoms and films back in the day, including “The Jeffersons,” the film “White Men Can’t Jump,” and many more. One of his most memorable roles was his guest appearance on “Good Times,” as J.J.’s art student, “Earl.” Remember that? That was the episode where “J.J.” decided to give art classes in their home in order to raise some extra money and “Earl’s” dad threatened to beat “Earl” to an oblivion for attending the classes.
Well, fast forward to decades later, and Ernest Harden Jr. dropped a bombshell revelation about his friends, Stevie Wonder and actress, Akosua Busia, that most of us would not have expected.
The Details Revealed…
For decades, Stevie Wonder has kept this tidbit of info on the low, even though signs were there all along. But y’all know we’re truth gold diggers at ILOSM — always diggin’ for truth — and oh the things we learn around here when we do a lil’ diggin.’
In an interview with Actors Entertainment (see video below, starts at 5:03 mark), Ernest revealed that his good friend/actress, Akosua Busia a.k.a. “Nettie” from “The Color Purple,” was in a serious relationship with Stevie Wonder back in the day. In fact, Ernest — a Detroit, MI native — says that’s how he became good friends with fellow Detroit native, Stevie.
They eventually became so cool, that Stevie would call him at 3 a.m.. sometimes. Why? Because Ernest explained that because Stevie is blind, he doesn’t necessarily have a concept of night and day, so whenever he’s up, he simply calls friends, or do what one may do at 12 noon, even if it’s the wee hours of the morning. Back to this whole “Nettie- Stevie coupled up thing though…
Now, remember we said the signs were there all along? Well, we’ve seen Stevie and Akosua out at red carpet events together, but the vibe they’d always given off was one of mentor and mentee. Matter of fact, as we previously reported, Stevie is the godparent of Akosua’s and the late director, John Singleton’s, now-24-year-old daughter, Hadar Busia-Singleton.
In addition to Stevie and Akosua frontin’ for the cameras back in the day (I joke…I joke, I kid I kid…but it’s still true), Stevie is still very close to the “Color Purple” star and Hadar. As we also reported, Akosua co-wrote the song, “Moon Blue,” with Stevie Wonder, for his album, “A Time 2 Love.”
Akosua also oftentimes pays homage to the music genius as the “god-daddy’ of her beautiful daughter. For example, for Stevie’s 70th birthday, Akosua paid tribute with the following photo and caption:
Stevie Wonder with actress, Akosua Busia (via Akosua Busia’s IG)
Happy 70th Birthday Stevland. Thank you for being such a loyal and faithful friend throughout the years. Thank you for being such a dedicated and loving God-daddy to my daughter,[Hadar]. Thank you for being such a gift. May God give you many more years in which to bless the world with your presence. Thank you #StevieWonder #music #legend #genius #humanitarian
In recent years, Stevie was visiting the mommy-daughter duo and took a moment to vibe with them, while singing and playing the piano, as seen in the post below…
And there ya’ have it I Love Old School Music fam’…Ernest Harden Jr. has officially let the cat outta the bag about his two former-lovebird friends.
What Ernest Harden Jr. Does Now
Today, at 69 years young, Ernest is healthy and living life to the fullest. He has two adult children- a son and a daughter. He’s also still getting his acting on. A few years back, he starred in a one-man stage play titled, “Beethoven and The Misfortune Cookies,” which told an interesting true story of Beethoven through the eyes of the Black man that he actually was- unbeknownst to American history. Currently, Ernest Harden Jr. can be seen on TruTV’s “Laff Mobb’s Laff Tracks,” a half-hour comedy series, hosted by popular hip hop DJ/radio personality, Cipha Sounds.
