Truth rating: 10
9:08 pm, March 1st, 2012
Nearly two years after filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry, Nicollette Sheridan testified in court on Thursday that the TV executive forcefully struck her on her head.
Sheridan, who had alleged in court papers that her character was killed off after she complained to ABC about the incident, described the alleged 2008 altercation on the witness stand on the trial’s first day of testimony.
The actress said the two were disagreeing on a scene for the hit series when Cherry allegedly became increasingly “agitated.”
He “stepped toward me and with his right hand he hit me upside the head,” Sheridan said, adding that the blow was powerful enough to cause her head to jerk.
She testified, “It was unfathomable to me that I had just been hit by my boss. It was demeaning; it was humiliating.”
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The former TV star said that though Cherry soon came to her trailer begging for forgiveness, she was later fired after she spoke up about the incident.
In its opening statement, Cherry’s defense attorney did not deny the altercation but described it as “a light tap” meant to demonstrate something required in the scene.
Cherry’s lawyer also claimed the decision to kill Sheridan’s character was actually made months in advance.
Sheridan’s former co-stars, including Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Marcia Cross, are all on the witness list for the defense, though it remains to be seen whether they will actually be called to testify.
Cherry is expected to take the witness stand later in the trial.
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