By late 1963, the strain fractured the household permanently. Harvin filed for divorce, which was finalized in 1964. Rumors about the cause of the split circulated for decades. In Charles White's authorized 1984 biography, The Life and Times of Little Richard, both parties spoke with striking candor. Penniman acknowledged that his latent homosexual desires, coupled with his frenetic lifestyle, made maintaining a traditional heterosexual marriage impossible. Ernestine, for her part, maintained that Richard was a loving and generous partner, but that his celebrity status, grueling travel, and the personal turmoil of his dual lives broke their shared foundation.
Unlike high-profile celebrity divorces of recent decades, the 1964 divorce settlement did not award Harvin an ongoing slice of Penniman's publishing or performance royalties. The music industry of the 1960s routinely stripped pioneering Black artists of their master ownership through predatory record deals with labels like Specialty Records. Little Richard himself spent years fighting for back royalties. Consequently, there was little liquid wealth to distribute during the separation proceedings.
Harvin received a standard cash settlement, essential personal assets, and arrangements regarding their adopted son. Decoupled from Penniman's chaotic finances, she stepped away from the music industry machinery and returned to private life.
