Steve Harvey reportedly renewed Shirley Strawberry’s morning show contract for $5 million over 5-years.
In 2022, Shirley earned an estimated $400,000 as co-host of the syndicated Steve Harvey Morning Show. But she struggled financially due to the strain of paying off her estranged husband Ernesto Williams’ debts, including garnishments, evictions, car repossessions, and her adult daughter’s monthly rent.
Due to her husband’s fraudulent activities, Shirley lost everything, including her home, cars, designer clothes, bags, and fine china dinnerware.
At one point in 2022 Shirley was homeless until friends took her in.
Shirley, 69, married Ernesto, 58, in 2015. There is evidence that he was still married to another woman when he proposed to Shirley.
He was arrested multiple times over the years on charges of armed robbery and theft by deception. He served at least 10 years in prison.
Ernesto is currently locked up in an Atlanta-area jail since July 2022. He is charged with wire fraud, aggravated s*xual battery, r*pe, aggravated sodomy, and child p*rnography.
According to YouTuber Infamous Sylvia, on Oct. 17, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams denied bond for Ernesto because he is a flight risk and poses “significant threat or danger to any person, the community, or to any property in the community.”
The judge also determined the defendant “posed a significant risk of committing a felony” while out on bond.
Among his charges, Ernesto is accused of r*ping a 19-year-old woman and forcing her to sign an NDA agreement in blood in 2019.
Ernesto shaved his lengthy beard for his court appearance last Tuesday. He shuffled into court wearing a jail-issued orange jumpsuit, a white long-sleeve shirt, and wrist and leg chains.
According to YouTuber Infamous Sylvia, Shirley was not in court for the bond hearing. She is in the process of annulling her marriage to Ernesto.
Watch the bond hearing videos below.
