'Desperate Housewives' trial: Nicollette Sheridan fired for 'unprofessional behavior'
This morning at Nicollette Sheridan's ongoing wrongful termination trial in downtown Los Angeles, Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry took the stand and told the court that he let the actress go because of her "unprofessional behavior." Added Cherry: "It wasn't the primary reason for my decision. But it was something I was aware of."
Cherry, however, also said that all reasons for her firing were secondary to "creative desires" to boost the show's storylines in following seasons. Sheridan claims that she was fired from the once-hot series in retaliation to her complaints about an encounter she had with Cherry that got physical.
Much of the trial has focused on the time during which the decision to kill Sheridan's sexpot character Edie Britt was made. Cherry addressed that issue, saying that he had opted to kill off Edie during a private, five-minute conversation with then-ABC executive Mark Pedowitz on May 22, 2008 in a studio hallway. If Cherry's version of events are to be believed, that would put the decision to kill Britt four months before the incident between Cherry and Sheridan happened on Sept. 24, 2008. Cherry did not deny the encounter between he and Sheridan happened, however, he remembers it differently: "I tapped her head, yes." Sheridan remembers it as being "hit upside the head."
As he has said in the past, Cherry testified that getting rid of Sheridan's Britt character had to do with "cost-saving," which ultimately amounted to millions of dollars. The creator also added that there was no documentation of the decision to kill Edie at that time, but that he did let his writing staff know soon after but swore them to secrecy. Several writers and producers from the series are expected to be called to testify later this week. (Additional reporting by Terry Schermerhorn)
Tanner on Twitter: @EWTanStransky
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