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By Charlie Amter
Tue Nov 29, 9:25 PM ET
Aaron Spelling's made a fortune from back-stabbing, high-intrigue soap operas; now the TV titan is embroiled in one of his own off-screen.
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Spelling has sued his former nurse and her lawyer for libel, claiming they have been bad-mouthing the Fantasy Island mastermind as a serial sexual harasser.
The mega-producer, whose resume also includes such sudsy staples as Charlie's Angeles, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Dynasty, Love Boat, Charmed and 7th Heaven, originally filed suit last week against Charlene Richards and attorney Don D. Sessions. In the initial complaint, Spelling claimed Richards threatened to reveal confidential information about the producer unless he paid her "an unspecified amount" to settle a sexual harassment claim.
On Tuesday, Spelling's lawyer, Bert Fields, told E! Online that the lawsuit would be expanded in light of a cover story in the new issue of the Globe breathlessly titled "Sex Scandal Rocks Hollywood." The tabloid details Sessions' efforts to recruit former Spelling starlets--including Jessica Biel, Alyssa Milano, Heather Locklear, Shannen Doherty, Farrah Fawcett and Linda Evans--to come forward with tales of Spelling misdeeds.
"We will be adding a claim now that [Sessions] has made libelous statements to the Globe," Fields said, adding that "Aaron Spelling has never sexually harassed anybody."
Fields says Richards and Sessions are engaged in multimillion-dollar shakedown of the 82-year-old Spelling, whose credits also include S.W.A.T., Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, Hart to Hart and The Mod Squad.
"Anyone who knows Aaron knows that he is the courtliest gentleman in the world who is incapable of that kind of conduct," Fields said.
In their suit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, Spelling and his wife, Candy, say Richards broke a confidentiality agreement she signed when she began to work for the couple in November 2004 by spreading rumors around Hollywood that she was sexually harassed by the TV icon. The lawsuit describes the former nurse as a person whose "goal in life is to find a rich man to support her in a lavish manner."
Fields says Richards and Sessions have been trolling around Tinseltown for any sordid stories about Spelling.
"Rather than simply sit back and let these people blacken his reputation, we decided to sue," says Fields.
Sessions, an Orange County-based attorney who specializes in workers-rights litigation, mailed a letter to hundreds of current and former employees of the Spelling empire, several A-list actresses among them, soliciting information to back up Richards' claim (Richards is not explicitly identified in the letter).
"We represent a former female employee of Aaron Spelling who alleges he harassed her. Other females who have worked for him have made similar accusations. He has denied it. He has encouraged us to contact other witnesses," the letter begins.
Sessions then name-checks Charlize Theron, likening the struggle to get women to come forward in his proposed class-action suit against the small-screen mogul to the story line of her new film, North Country, which deals with harassment in the mining world.
"Please make a difference now privately without requiring another female victim, like Charlize Theron's character in North Country, to wage a needless traumatic public battle for justice," reads the letter, parts of which are excerpted in Globe. "Your input may help us get our matter resolved, without any public litigation.
Attempts to reach Sessions at his Mission Viejo office Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Fields, meanwhile, labeled Sessions' claims "outrageous."
"My four-month-old granddaughter could push [Spelling] over," Fields asserts. "He's a very frail man and would never abuse anyone."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20051130/en_celeb_eo/17866
Tue Nov 29, 9:25 PM ET
Aaron Spelling's made a fortune from back-stabbing, high-intrigue soap operas; now the TV titan is embroiled in one of his own off-screen.
ADVERTISEMENT
Spelling has sued his former nurse and her lawyer for libel, claiming they have been bad-mouthing the Fantasy Island mastermind as a serial sexual harasser.
The mega-producer, whose resume also includes such sudsy staples as Charlie's Angeles, Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Dynasty, Love Boat, Charmed and 7th Heaven, originally filed suit last week against Charlene Richards and attorney Don D. Sessions. In the initial complaint, Spelling claimed Richards threatened to reveal confidential information about the producer unless he paid her "an unspecified amount" to settle a sexual harassment claim.
On Tuesday, Spelling's lawyer, Bert Fields, told E! Online that the lawsuit would be expanded in light of a cover story in the new issue of the Globe breathlessly titled "Sex Scandal Rocks Hollywood." The tabloid details Sessions' efforts to recruit former Spelling starlets--including Jessica Biel, Alyssa Milano, Heather Locklear, Shannen Doherty, Farrah Fawcett and Linda Evans--to come forward with tales of Spelling misdeeds.
"We will be adding a claim now that [Sessions] has made libelous statements to the Globe," Fields said, adding that "Aaron Spelling has never sexually harassed anybody."
Fields says Richards and Sessions are engaged in multimillion-dollar shakedown of the 82-year-old Spelling, whose credits also include S.W.A.T., Starsky and Hutch, T.J. Hooker, Hart to Hart and The Mod Squad.
"Anyone who knows Aaron knows that he is the courtliest gentleman in the world who is incapable of that kind of conduct," Fields said.
In their suit filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, Spelling and his wife, Candy, say Richards broke a confidentiality agreement she signed when she began to work for the couple in November 2004 by spreading rumors around Hollywood that she was sexually harassed by the TV icon. The lawsuit describes the former nurse as a person whose "goal in life is to find a rich man to support her in a lavish manner."
Fields says Richards and Sessions have been trolling around Tinseltown for any sordid stories about Spelling.
"Rather than simply sit back and let these people blacken his reputation, we decided to sue," says Fields.
Sessions, an Orange County-based attorney who specializes in workers-rights litigation, mailed a letter to hundreds of current and former employees of the Spelling empire, several A-list actresses among them, soliciting information to back up Richards' claim (Richards is not explicitly identified in the letter).
"We represent a former female employee of Aaron Spelling who alleges he harassed her. Other females who have worked for him have made similar accusations. He has denied it. He has encouraged us to contact other witnesses," the letter begins.
Sessions then name-checks Charlize Theron, likening the struggle to get women to come forward in his proposed class-action suit against the small-screen mogul to the story line of her new film, North Country, which deals with harassment in the mining world.
"Please make a difference now privately without requiring another female victim, like Charlize Theron's character in North Country, to wage a needless traumatic public battle for justice," reads the letter, parts of which are excerpted in Globe. "Your input may help us get our matter resolved, without any public litigation.
Attempts to reach Sessions at his Mission Viejo office Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Fields, meanwhile, labeled Sessions' claims "outrageous."
"My four-month-old granddaughter could push [Spelling] over," Fields asserts. "He's a very frail man and would never abuse anyone."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20051130/en_celeb_eo/17866
