Yikes! What a legal MESS!
According to People Magazine, broadway legend Ben Vereen spent thirty-six years married to two different women. The revelation came to light after his first wife Andrea Vereen went to collect social security and found out a woman named Nancy Burner had been collecting her cash for years.
Related: Mom Arrested For Marrying Her Daughter… After Divorcing Her Son!
Obviously, Andrea looked into the situation and made a shocking discovery regarding her martial status. While the woman thought she and the Pippin star ended their marriage FIFTY-TWO YEARS ago, she sadly learned this was not the case.
Apparently Mr. Vereen intentionally or unintentionally failed to divorce Andrea like he said he would all those years ago. The actor then went on to marry Burner in 1976, a union which lasted until 2012.
Andrea’s lawyer explained to the mag:
“Mr. Vereen told her years ago they were divorced. But when she applied for Social Security, she found out that not only are they not divorced, but that some other woman is collecting under his name.”
Dayum… this sounds like Divorce Court‘s wet dream!
Following the scorned woman’s discovery, Ben FINALLY filed for divorce:
“We were negotiating with them, and they really didn’t want to give much of anything. And then they, inexplicably in my opinion, filed this lawsuit [for divorce].”
The legal rep went on to explain:
“…this woman raised his son and do the right thing. He left this young girl ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ she was 14 and pregnant at the time ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ to raise a child by herself in New York City, which was not easy at the time for an African-American woman, and life was tough. It’s not as though he’s impoverished. She’s [Andrea] a religious woman, was a pastor, worked in churches, sang in choirs and was scraping everywhere along the way with virtually no help from him.”
Wait… so these two had a son together?! This complicates the scandal even more!
As for the 69-year-old’s take on this ordeal, his rep told Page Six:
“This is a personal matter, and nothing has been proven yet.”
Hmm. Very inneresting.
We just wonder how B.V. was able to marry Nancy as he would have had to list his date of divorce on the couple’s marriage certificate. Either Ben failed to do so purposefully or it was a simple mistake.
Sigh. We just hope this case gets settled in or out of court… the drama has gone on for long enough!
[Image via WENN.]
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