The Desperate Housewives have long been notorious for their savage catfights onscreen, but the turmoil behind the scenes appears to be just as bad. According to creator Marc Cherry, Nicollette Sheridan allegedly referred to Teri Hatcher as “the meanest woman in the world.”
Cherry testified on Wednesday that he was summoned to mediate an off-camera brawl between Sheridan and Hatcher when they were filming a scenario featuring the ashes of a slain neighbor.
Cherry told the jurors, “They were furious with each other. Nicollette pulled me aside and proceeded to (say) Teri Hatcher was the meanest woman in the world.”
After Mayer confessed to burning down Britt’s house, Sheridan’s character Edie Britt pelted Hatcher’s character Susan Mayer with the ashes.
Cherry stated, “I personally witnessed Ms. Sheridan not knowing her lines in the scene” and upsetting her co-star.
The trial for Sheridan’s case against Cherry is set to begin this week. Twelve jurors will decide whether or not the actress was unlawfully terminated.
Marc Cherry, the creator of the show “Desperate Housewives,” was sued by Nicollette for violence and premature termination.
Cherry intended to kill off Edie in season five months in advance, according to the defense, and the consequences of her death would be a major plot element. According to documents acquired by E! News, Cherry allegedly drew out an outline during a May 2008 writers retreat in which she has Edie murdered by her insane husband, Dave (Neal McDonough).
“The character’s purpose was going to be over,” Cherry explained. He was planning an “interesting way to end the character’s time on the show in a shocking way for fans.”
Cherry told jurors that he decided to kill Edie Britt in May 2008, months before the claimed physical altercation, and that he just “tapped” Sheridan’s head while telling her on how to proceed with a scenario.
While Cherry praised Sheridan’s comic timing during last week’s hearing, he chastised her on Wednesday.
He testified that she was “often late” and made “insulting comments about her dialogue” and that he “observed some egregious examples of unprofessionalism.”
Not only that, but Cherry said that cast members like as Eva Longoria and Felicity Huffman were “relieved” that Sheridan’s character would be killed off.
Meanwhile, Sheridan claims that as scripts for season five began to arrive, Cherry promised her that her job was secure, and that he and ABC didn’t plot to fire her until after her accusation in the tabloids that Cherry had hit her “on the head” during a dispute that September. Cherry was found not guilty after an internal ABC inquiry.
He claimed they called the murder “drinks OJ,” a reference to the “famous OJ Simpson case,” in which he was suspected of murdering his wife.
He said that Nicollette was unprofessional in her work ethics, claiming that she was late and nasty to the props staff. Sheridan will earn $6 million in damages if she wins the case.
“The primary reason I killed off the character was because I thought it was the best thing for my show,” Cherry explained.
