A story that comes straight from Wisteria Lane.
According to THR, Esq., Nicolette Sheridan is suing ABC Entertainment Group, ABC Studios, Touchstone Television and creator Marc Cherry for $20 million, claiming that she was physically assaulted by Cherry and fired when she complained about it.
Sheridan says Cherry punched her in the head during production on the series’ fifth season. He allegedly apologized but then arranged for her character, Edie Britt, to be killed off the show. Sheridan claims that she told ABC about the entire mess, but producers did nothing.
Here’s a sneak peak at some of the things that the complaint alleges:
• Sheridan says the assault went down like this: “On September 24, 2008, during a rehearsal for the show, when Sheridan questioned Cherry about something that was in the script, Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head.”
• She says she was “physically and emotionally injured, humiliated and stunned by Cherry’s sudden physical violence and stated, ‘you just hit me in the head that is not okay. THAT IS NOT OKAY!’ ”
• Sheridan says Cherry’s abusive behavior was well-known on the set: “After an incident where Sheridan’s co-star on the show Teri Hatcher went above Cherry’s head to speak to ABC executives, Cherry told Sheridan, ‘I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.’ ”
• Sheridan, whose character was killed off near the end of Season 5, also says her compensation for the show was $175,000 an episode for her fifth year, $200,000 for her sixth season and $250,000 for her seventh. She claims she stood to earn millions if she hadn’t been fired.
Aliza F. Herzberg, an attorney at New York’s Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig & Wolosky, could not have said it better when she said, “The studio will have to explain its reasons for the termination, but Sheridan will have the burden of proving her claims. Given the twisted plot of the show, and how many people have been killed off, I say she has an uphill battle.”
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