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."
TV executives are reportedly preparing to offer Nicollette Sheridan a "peace package" to convince her to drop a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry.
The actress stunned fans of the hit show earlier this month when she filed suit against Cherry, alleging he slapped her during an argument about a scene and then fired her when she complained about his behavior on set.
Bosses at ABC reportedly want to resolve the case before it heads to court, after Sheridan's lawyers indicated they intend to subpoena cast and crew members to give evidence if the matter goes before a judge. And network chiefs are preparing to make the blonde beauty an offer in return for dropping the case.
An ABC source tells the publication, "Our legal team is working to get both sides together to see if they can help broker a compromise. This doesn't mean that anyone is going to hand Nicollette $20 million to drop her action and walk away but there are various incentives that might be put on the table."
Co-stars Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria Parker, Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross have released a joint statement supporting the writer in the legal battle.
A line has been drawn on Wisteria Lane.
Desperate Housewives stars Eva Longoria Parker, Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman issued a joint statement Tuesday pledging their support for show creator Marc Cherry in a lawsuit filed by Nicollette Sheridan.
"It would be irresponsible of us to let the public believe that being a part of this show from its inception has been anything but a blessing," the statement says. "We have no first-hand knowledge of what Nicollette may or may not have experienced, but we would never characterize our set as a hostile environment.
"It is, in fact, the opposite," the statement continues. "The friendships and support that Marc Cherry, the cast, the crew and the producers have shared for the past six years have made this a wonderful job that we are grateful for every day."
Hatcher, who plays housewife Susan on the show, separately expressed concern that the actress was singled out in the lawsuit alleging Cherry hit Sheridan in the face and that her Edie Britt character was killed off when she complained about him. Sheridan's suit alleged that when Hatcher went over Cherry's head to complain about him to ABC executives, he told Sheridan, "I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies."
The statement said it was "unfortunate and inappropriate" for Sheridan's attorneys to have mentioned Hatcher without her authorization.
Hatcher says: "While my adoration and respect for the classic and dynamic chemistry of the characters of Susan and Edie is indelible, I'm honored to stand with Eva, Felicity and Marcia, as a group and clarify that our set environment is nothing less than an amazingly positive experience. I have never felt discriminated against. In fact, I have felt heard and respected by Marc and other executives in regards to both my professional and personal needs."
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.
One of the most volatile TV couples is back in separate projects.
Former "Desperate Housewives" star Nicollette Sheridan is set as the lead in a CBS comedy pilot headlined by Ant Hines, a longtime collaborator of Sacha Baron Cohen.
Meanwhile, Neal McDonough, who played Sheridan's psycho husband who ultimately led to her character's demise in a freaky car accident, will star opposite Virginia Madsen on ABC's dramedy series "Scoundrels."
Hines' semi-scripted presentation, directed by Larry Charles ("Borat"), stars English actor Paul Kaye as a British lowlife moving to L.A. to reconnect with his daughter, a precocious teen superstar.
Returning to her Blighty roots, British born-and-raised Sheridan will play the girl's outrageous stage mother and the deadbeat dad's long-lost love.
Based on the New Zealand series "Outrageous Fortune," the comedic drama "Scoundrels" centers on the matriarch (Madsen) of a family of criminals who decides it's time for her brood to go straight after her scam artist/forger/petty thief husband (McDonough) is sentenced to a long prison term.
For four seasons, Sheridan played Wisteria Lane man-eater Edie, who finally found her match in Dave Williams (McDonough), her villainous third husband in Season 5.
With tonight bringing the final episode of Desperate Housewives to star original cast member Nicollette Sheridan – who is leaving the show for good – her neighbors on Wisteria Lane gathered to pay brief tribute to her during a panel discussion about Housewives at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles.
According to James Denton (the actor whose plumber Mike on the ABC show was the object of Sheridan's character Edie's insatiable lust), at the table-read of the first script that would not feature Sheridan, she took a moment to address the writers and actors. "She said, 'While you're all together, I'm here to say thank you for everything. You guys are great. You guys are awesome,' " Denton said.
"She walked out of the room, and Felicity [Huffman] looked at me and said, 'Classy,' and it sure was."
Of her last days on the set, Denton, 46, said, "Her attitude made them completely bearable. It could have been tough and sad, but she was so great," the Associated Press reports.
"She will be missed," Sheridan's costar, Teri Hatcher, told PEOPLE earlier this month. "I feel really grateful to have had the opportunity to work with her."
At the Paley Center gathering Saturday, a misty-eyed Hatcher, 44, was quoted as saying: "I made a scrapbook as my sort of parting gift, and it reminded me of how great those two characters [Hatcher's Susan and Sheridan's Edie] were together."
Speaking to TV Guide recently about her reasons for leaving, Sheridan, 45, said, "When the show started [in October 2004] it was such a different beast. It was exciting and dangerous and funny and edgy and bizarre. It started feeling a little complacent, and that was very frustrating."
But countered show creator Marc Cherry, 47: "Edie's already slept with most of the guys on the street and has caused about as many problems as she could."
While Desperate Housewives fans may be sad to see Edie Britt go, Nicollette Sheridan, who has played the role for five seasons, didn’t shed too many tears.
Upon hearing of Edie’s untimely demise, “I said, ‘OK, sayonara. It’s been a great ride. Thank you,’” Sheridan tells the new issue of TV Guide magazine. Still, she adds, “[Killing off Edie] was a risky decision that could have devastating ramifications.”
But regardless of the fallout on Wisteria Lane, Sheridan is ready to move on.
“When the show started it was such a different beast. It was exciting and dangerous and funny and edgy and bizarre,” says Sheridan. “It started feeling a little complacent, and that was very frustrating.”
Another thorn in her side? Creator Marc Cherry, whom Sheridan believes largely ignored her. She bemoans, “When you have a jewel, why not polish it and put it out there for all to see?”
Cherry, however, says Edie (and Sheridan’s) time was up on the show.
“Edie’s already slept with most of the guys on the street and has caused about as many problems as she could,” he says. Also, “There has been tremendous pressure put on me to cut costs…the network is saying to all the shows, ‘The company is really hurting financially. You must find a way to produce these shows more cheaply.” (With Sheridan gone, Housewives will save an estimated $100-200,000 per episode, according to TV Guide magazine.)
Still, he does acknowledge that the show will see a new bombshell — but don’t expect an Edie 2.0.
“We will find a new kind of sexiness coming through Wisteria Lane. What I won’t do is cast another fortysomething sexy blonde,” he says. “Nicollette Sheridan] performed the aging neighborhood tramp better than anyone has ever done before.”
Television's "Desperate Housewives" are losing a resident of Wisteria Lane.Nicollette Sheridan, who plays blonde-bombshell Realtor Edie Britt on the ABC comedy, is leaving the show, a spokeswoman for the network said on Wednesday.
ABC gave no further details about the timing or circumstances of the departure of Sheridan's loud-mouthed character.
But E! online columnist Ted Casablanca wrote that Britt would be involved in a car accident after dodging a plot hatched by shady new screen husband Dave Williams to kill her off.
Sheridan's character has already left the TV show once. She was driven out of Wisteria Lane by the other housewives last season but returned when the show jumped five years forward in the fall of 2008.
British-born Sheridan, 45, appeared in the US TV soap opera "Knots Landing" in the 1990s before joining the cast of "Desperate Housewives" in 2004.
Nicollette Sheridan had a special guest at her party to ring in turning 45 – a possible new beau in David Spade.Celebrating her birthday at new L.A. hot spot Luau with Desperate Housewives costars Felicity Huffman, onscreen husband Neal McDonough and Kyle MacLachlan, the newly single Sheridan at first played it coy with her man of the evening. "They arrived separately and even started dinner at different booths," says an onlooker. It was a familiar scene: The duo were spotted a couple of weeks ago at the restaurant's opening, where they spent the night in deep conversation. This time, though, things got a little more intimate."They cuddled and kissed," says an onlooker. "They were full-on making out in a booth."Decked out in a sequined gold frock, the birthday girl sipped on lychee martinis throughout the night and giddily enjoyed a specialty cake that read "Happy Birthday Princessa."While a source insists the two aren't dating, the onlooker said that "David winked at her and stood by her side while she blew out the candles on her cake."
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.
