Who knew the drama unfolding on the set of Desperate Housewives was even saucier than some of the strange happenings that frequently take up residence on Wisteria Lane? Actress Nicollette Sheridan is suing the creator of the Emmy Award-winning primetime soap for more than $20 million over allegations of assault, battery, violence and wrongful termination, TMZ reported Monday.
Nicollette is steaming over an event first reported by The National Enquirer nearly two years ago.
Sheridan, who played Edie Britt on the comedy-drama, claims show creator Marc Cherry hit her across the face and head, and then fired her after she complained about the assault, legal documents reveals.
According to Enquirer spies, Marc got into a furious screaming match with Nicollette over a dialogue change he had made in the actress’ script in the fall of 2008.
“Everyone was very uncomfortable,” an on set source told the tab in October of that year. “People were trying to act as though they weren’t paying attention, but when Cherry blasted her for having an opinion…it got hard to ignore the fight.”
“He totally lost it and swung for her head,” the spy insisted at the time.
Although reps for the show have long denied spywitness accounts claiming Sheridan had been “smacked or slapped” by Cherry, Nicollette finally spilled the tea on the fateful encounter in court papers filed in Los Angeles Monday.
The 46-year-old British-born star claims Cherry created a hostile work environment by “behaving in an extremely abusive and aggressive manner toward the individuals who work on the show.”
And if that weren’t enough, she confirms that Cherry physically assaulted her after she questioned him about a script during filming of the show’s fifth season on Sept. 24, 2008. “Cherry took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head,” according to the lawsuit.
After the alleged incident Cherry went to her trailer to ask for forgiveness. Nicollette says she immediately reported the incident to ABC but the network failed to take action. Cherry’s aggressiveness escalated and she was unceremoniously booted from the show in early 2009.
The lawsuit also alleged that when Cherry found out Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher went above his head to complain about him, he retorted: “I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.”