Nicollette Sheridan Testimony Heard at 'Desperate Housewives' Trial
Nicollette Sheridan took the witness stand to give her testimony in the wrongful termination lawsuit that she filed against ABC after she complained about being hit by series creator Marc Cherry.
Sheridan began her testimony as she explained what particular incident on September 2008 led to the physical confrontation. She had asked Cherry to write a new line of dialog for her but "he got agitated and annoyed and didn't respond," Sheridan testified.
Then again after the rehearsal she approached Cherry again. By that time Cherry was talking with the director, she explained: "He got agitated."
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Sheridan then said that Cherry took her to a side area which was away from others. "What is it you want?" Sheridan testified. She said she offered to explain the reason for the dialogue change, but abruptly was cut off.
"Cherry stepped toward me and with his right hand he hit me upside the head," Sheridan said, adding that her head moved backed and she was shocked. She then yelled at him, "You hit me in the head! That is not OK. That is not OK."
Sheridan then told jurors that she returned to her trailer to find co-star Neal McDonough, who played her husband. "Neal said if I saw him I would have hit him back," Sheridan testified.
Sheridan explained that McDonough stayed with her until he was called to the set. After McDonough had left Cherry came to see her.
She testified: "On the doorstep, he said, 'I am on bended knee begging your forgiveness.'" She continued: "I said, 'Why would you do that? He wrapped his arms around me and apologized again. Then he changed the subject."
In February 2009, Sheridan explained that she was called to a meeting with the writers of the show. When she arrived she saw Cherry in his office with other producers as well as an ABC executive.
"I said, 'what's going on?'" she testified. She noticed the others in the room would not look at her and that Cherry looked "very nervous. His hands were shaking."
"He said he had decided Edie Britt was going to die," Sheridan testified. Cherry said her character would be killed in a car crash. "I asked why? He said he wanted to shake things up. I was stunned."
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
