Steve Harvey’s Ex Accused Him of Kidnapping in $60m Lawsuit after Spending Time behind Bars

Since they split, Steve Harvey once dated a very busy woman. She has been in jail, then in a courthouse accusing him of kidnapping — here are the details.

Steve Harvey is a famous family man with a lot of influence within Hollywood. The talented funnyman has been with his current wife for so long; few can recall who came immediately before and what stunts she pulled.

Her name is Mary Vaughn, and she was married to Harvey in the spotlight of his career, and the relationship lasted 16 years before ending in a bitter custody battle and divorce in 2005.

She was Harvey's second wife, but their split pitted them against each other, with Vaughn cooking up some nasty claims about him. Here are a few of them.

CHEATING ALLEGATIONS

Vaughn told the world about how Harvey was stepping out on her while they were together and that it felt like getting "shattered into pieces."

But she didn't leave being unable to cut her losses, especially after how much of herself she had invested.

Despite her faults, the woman seemed to have a genuine love for her family and had worked hard to build it into her support and foundation.

Above all, the only child she shares with the famous comedian, Wynton, needed a family — it was something she'd never had, which is why she did not want him to grow up in a broken home.

"Steve and I literally came from nothing," she once said. "I had worked hard; I had given it my all up to that point to help make him successful." As far as Vaughn was concerned, she deserved better, and so did her son.

BETRAYAL

After the divorce, Vaughn was denied closure, but that did not hurt her as much as losing her son. According to the aggrieved woman, Harvey somehow turned her child against her and kicked her out of their home.

Her allegations quickly spread like a desert fire, but luckily Harvey had people standing up for him and calling Vaughn out on her lies.

Vaughn's former assistant, Jocelin, was among those who did. She described her former boss as "erratic" and remembers what transpired differently. She opened up saying:

"She asked me to get a ticket and put [Wynton] on the plane to his father. I had to put him on the plane and not let [Steve's] party know until 30 minutes before he landed."

JUDGE'S VERDICT

The matter eventually found its way to court, but instead of receiving the justice, she felt she desperately deserved, the judge slammed Vaughn for her false allegations.

The judge noted that she had not been evicted from her home, nor was she ever homeless at any point because she was "awarded three homes in the property settlement." She also received $40,000 per month through March 2009 and an additional $1.5 million.

Harvey's legal team denied all the allegations and vowed to defend the TV personality.

As far as her claim about Harvey taking her son from her is concerned, court documents revealed that Mary "willingly placed the child on an airplane and sent him to Mr. Harvey without his knowledge." Here is how Vaughn responded to that:

"People say, "move on with life, Mary" but how can you move on when you don't have rights to your child? How to move on when nothing is fair?"

TIME IN JAIL

Vaughn was banned from talking about the divorce, but in stubbornness, the woman refused to adhere to the court order, which led to her arrest.

A judge found her guilty of contempt of court, so she was sentenced to thirty days in jail. When she broke her silence on the matter, she revealed that she merely wanted to tell her side of the story.

About her showing up to court without an attorney, Vaughn said it happened because she could not afford one, whereas Harvey was in court with a legal team and an entourage — a fact she pointed out.

Speaking about the reason for her anger, Vaughn said that she only felt that way because she forcibly missed six years of her son's life that she couldn't get back. She was later released on January 17.

THE LAST STAND

After her stunt in 2013, Vaughn went silent before returning with another loaded lawsuit. Vaughn sued her former husband for $60 million.

She alleged that during their marriage, which lasted from 1996 until they split in 2005, she was supposedly subjected to "prolonged torture with the infliction of severe mental pain and suffering."

The documents also stated that Vaughn "attempted suicide by self-medicating [in] an effort to stop the pain."

Additionally, the woman allegedly endured "severe emotional distress" that led to medical conditions for her and her close family over the last one and a half decades.

Vaughn's suit, which civil rights activist Essie Berry filed, was defended by her, but Berry acted as her power of attorney.

Harvey's legal team denied all the allegations and vowed to defend the TV personality from them by all means, and they did. It was a resounding defeat for Vaughn, who now seems to know better.

HARVEY'S OTHER ROMANTIC AFFILIATIONS

Harvey and Vaughn had only one child together, Wynton Harvey, born in July 1997. Before he started his relationship with Vaughn, Harvey was with a woman named Marcia Harvey, and they were married for 14 years.

Their union was blessed with three children; daughters Brandi and Karli and son Broderick. After his acrimonious split from Vaughn in 2005, the Family Feud host began his relationship with Marjorie Elaine Harvey, and they tied the knot in 2007.