Earlier this year, TV star Nicollette Sheridan sued her former 'Desperate Housewives' employers--including the show's creator Marc Cherry, Touchstone Television Productions, ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment--for $20 million in relation to her firing.
RadarOnline.com reports that on Friday, new papers were filed, dropping some of the more shocking accusations from the original lawsuit. The actress previously claimed assault and battery, emotional distress, gender violence and wrongful termination.
In the new papers, Sheridan removed the claims of physical injury and emotional distress--and as a result, she will not have to submit to a physical and psychiatric evaluation.
She previously stated that she suffered--and continued to suffer--physical injury and emotional distress and in response, the defense demanded a physical and psychiatric evaluation.
By tweaking the suit, she will avoid any evaluations. Sheridan states in the new papers that while those claims are still valid, she is removing them to streamline the case. The defense agreed and the case will move forward as planned.
In the original lawsuit, Sheridan claims Cherry created a hostile work environment by "behaving in an extremely abusive and aggressive manner toward the individuals who work on the show."
Things worsened between Sheridan and Cherry in the fifth season. Sheridan claims on September 24, 2008, he physically assaulted her after she questioned him about something in the script. According to the lawsuit, "Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head."
Talk about a fashion don’t!
Madonna is being sued over the rights to use the “Material Girl” name for the trendy juniors clothing line that she designed with daughter Lourdes.
Apparel manufacturer LA Triumph slapped the superstar with a lawsuit Thursday, claiming that it had been marketing clothes under the “Material Girl” brand since 1997.
“Our client and its predecessor have been continually selling similar clothes in similar retail outlets at similar price points under their Material Girl brand since at least 1997 and Madonna and her newfound company do not have the right to trade in the same space under this brand,” said an attorney with firm One LLP, alleging that their client faces “a risk of being subsumed by Madonna’s profile, obvious worldwide notoriety” and massive marketing campaign.
Madonna’s much-buzzed-about Material Girl collection, fronted by Gossip Girl star Taylor Momsen, launched at Macy’s earlier this month.
Madonna has not yet commented.
Shocked by Nicollette Sheridan's lawsuit against Desperate Housewives's creator? Her former costar Eva Longoria Parker was caught off guard too!
"I'm really confused about this whole thing," Longoria Parker said Wednesday morning on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show. "I would love to see her to find out if everything's okay."
In court papers filed Monday, Sheridan, 46, alleges she was fired from the ABC series after complaining the show's creator Marc Cherry hit her in the face on set.
Sheridan's rep was unavailable for comment, but ABC Studios said in a statement: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."
While Longoria Parker, 35, says she doesn't know the details of the alleged incident, "I know they did have a thing on set," she says, adding that Cherry "probably could not harm a fly."
"I guess it was a couple years ago. I wasn't on set when it happened but apparently this incident had happened and she felt it was wrong," she says.
When asked to clarify what kind of incident it was, Longoria Parker says that Sheridan "was doing a scene, something that [Marc] was showing her how to do ... Honestly I wish I knew."
And while she hopes things work out for Sheridan, Longoria Parker is also crossing her fingers the show will get past the lawsuit. "I love the show so much," she says, "I would hate for anything tarnish the reputation of the show."
Nicollette Sheridan won't be surprised if the legal response against her is, well, desperate.
After filing a lawsuit Monday alleging she was assaulted and then was wrongly fired from ABC's Desperate Housewives, her lawyer alleges show creator Marc Cherry was abusive on the set – and the attorney anticipates more of the same now.
"We expect the case to be hard fought, and it will not be a surprise if ABC and Mr. Cherry try to depict Nicollette to be something other than a team player and long-standing industry professional," says attorney Mark Baute.
Sheridan, 46, is suing for $20 million, alleging assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination. She says that Cherry hit her in the face when she questioned a script and that she was then killed off the show last year when she complained.
"Nicollette worked very hard on the show and was a model employee," Baute says. "Mr. Cherry's behavior towards Nicollette was and is nothing short of abusive and appalling. The lawsuit is not something Nicollette wanted to do, it's something she felt compelled to do."
Saying that Sheridan "put her heart and soul" into the role of sexy Realtor Edie Britt, Baute claims the actress went to court only because ABC rebuffed her requests for protection.
"Sometimes the only way that a safe and normal work environment can be created is when a hard-working person like Nicollette stands up for herself and her rights," he says, "and in doing so help protect others who have had to work in a hostile environment."
ABC Studios said in a statement Monday: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."
It's a lawsuit worthy of a juicy Desperate Housewives storyline.
Nicollette Sheridan alleges the show's creator hit her in the face on the set and that she was then fired in retaliation for complaining about him, "resulting in her losing millions in future earnings," says the suit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Sheridan, whose character was killed off the show last year, is suing for $20 million, alleging assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination. She claims series creator Marc Cherry created a hostile work environment, "behaving in an extremely abusive and aggressive manner."
Sheridan, a Golden Globe nominee who played sexy Realtor Edie Britt, claims that Cherry directed his abuse at other cast and crew members, even at star Teri Hatcher after she went above his head to ABC executives.
"I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies," Cherry told Sheridan, according to the lawsuit.
Without Merit
ABC Studios says in a statement: "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."
Sheridan, whose contract called for her to earn $175,000 an episode going up to $250,000 in later years, claimed that in the summer of 2008 she tried to meet privately with Cherry "in an effort to discuss his negative demeanor toward her and to discuss whether he had a problem with her work," the lawsuit says.
Cherry told her he didn't have a problem with her and apologized, only to lash out at her again, behaving in a "rude and degrading manner," leading up to a clash on the set during a Sept. 24, 2008, rehearsal, the lawsuit claims.
"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," the lawsuit says.
Begging Forgiveness
A humiliated Sheridan yelled back, "You just hit me in the head. That is not okay. THAT IS NOT OKAY!" according to the lawsuit.
Cherry went to her trailer to "beg forgiveness," the lawsuit says, but after Sheridan reported him to ABC, his behavior allegedly worsened. She was informed in February 2009 that her character was being written off the show and she was being fired, according to the lawsuit.
"The decision to kill off Sheridan's character demonstrates that Cherry and ABC intended to and did retaliate against Sheridan for her complaints about Cherry," the lawsuit says. The lawsuit notes that although some of the male characters were killed off the show, "none of the female characters had ever before been killed off or written out of the show."
The lawsuit was first reported by TMZ.
Earlier this year, TV star Nicollette Sheridan sued her former 'Desperate Housewives' employers--including the show's creator Marc Cherry, Touchstone Television Productions, ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment--for $20 million in relation to her firing.
