Author Terry McMillan sues ex-husband for $40 million

Jet, April 9, 2007

Best-selling author Terry McMillan is suing her former husband for $40 million, alleging that he tried to smear her reputation during their highly publicized 2005 divorce.

McMillan, 55, recently filed the complaint in Contra Costa County Superior Court against Jonathan Plummer, 32, who inspired her best-selling 1996 novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back. The book, later adapted into a movie, chronicled the adventures of a 40-something woman who falls for a guy half her age.

The lawsuit claims Plummer, a Jamaica native, married McMillan in 1998 only to become a U.S. citizen. He later announced that he's gay. The couple eventually settled their divorce for an undisclosed amount. Plummer's lawyer, Delores Sargent, also is named in the lawsuit.

"The defendants conspired and formed a plan to threaten to humiliate and embarrass Terry McMillan," the lawsuit said, "and violate her privacy and place her in harm's way, and threatened to damage her professional and personal standing in an attempt to extort monies from her."

Plummer recently announced that this summer he will release a fictional tell-all book, Balancing Act, about his marriage to McMillan (JET, April 2).