Smokey Robinson Still Fighting With Ex-Wife In Court

When it comes to Smokey Robinson, the words “cheaper to keep her” take on a whole new meaning. According to Radar Online, the legendary singer and songwriter is still paying for divorcing his ex-wife, Claudette Rogers-Robinson, nearly thirty years after their 1985 split.

This past March, the 74-year-old filed a lawsuit against Claudette, insisting that per the 1976 Copyright Act, she no longer owns the music copyright and royalty rights that she was awared in their divorce settlement.

“As the sole author of the musical compositions at issue, [Smokey] has the exclusive right…to terminate his assignments of copyrights after a certain number of years,” Smokey’s legal team argues in court documents. “[He] has properly issued termination notices for all currently-eligible copyrights.”

But Claudette is apparently prepared for a fight. The former Mircales singer claims that she’s is still very much entitled to 50% of all earnings resulting from the music Smokey produced between 1958 and 1985. According to Claudette’s legal team, Smokey “assigned [Claudette] a one-half interest in the Community Musical Compositions, and no termination right is available under the Copyright Act with respect to that assignment.” She’s demanding a trial by jury.

Can you imagine still going back and forth to court with an ex from 30 years ago? Good grief!