'Desperate' star sues for $20m

Nicollette Sheridan claims she was 'battered' and then fired...

08:58 06 April 2010

'Desperate Housewives' star Nicollette Sheridan is suing the show's creator for $20 million.

The actress, who was axed from the US TV show last year when her character Edie Britt was killed off, filed a lawsuit at the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, in which she claims she suffered assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination.

The show's creator Marc Cherry is the target of Sheridan's $20m in damages case.

Sheridan claims she disagreed with him regarding a script on September 24, 2008, following which Cherry “took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head”.

She added that he behaved “in an extremely abusive and aggressive manner”, which made working on the hit series a a constant hardship.

The actress also stated that he was abusive to all cast members, including Teri Hatcher. When Hatcher went to TV network ABC bosses to discuss his conduct, Nicollette alleges he said: “I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies.”

The 46-year-old Golden Globe star claims she was fired from the show after she complained about him, “resulting in her losing millions in future earnings”.

“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 states.

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.”

In 2005, Sheridan was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of real estate agent and serial divorcee Edie Britt.