Nicollette Sheridan Testifies Against Her Former Boss

Former Desperate Housewives star, Nicollette Sheridan testified against her former boss, Marc Cherry in her wrongful termination lawsuit against the show's creator. INSIDE EDITION has the scoop on what happened in court. 

It's getting nasty in Nicollette Sheridan's bombshell lawsuit against Desperate Housewives.

Sheridan looked all business as she arrived to face fierce cross-examination over her dramatic testimony that Desperate Housewives executive producer Marc Cherry slapped her during a rehearsal then killed off her character when she complained to ABC.  

There were fireworks at Los Angeles Superior Court as Sheridan faced withering cross-examination and began yelling at Cherry's attorney when he attempted to shake her story about being slapped.

"You're misrepresenting me," she said and the judge finally berated her in front of the jury, saying: "You have to calm down."

The jury was transfixed when she said an "agitated" Marc Cherry slapped her during a 2008 rehearsal after they argued over a line of dialogue.
 
"With his right hand, he hit me upside the head. It hit my temple, my forehead. It was a nice wallop across my head," Sheridan told the court.

Her lawyer, Mark Baute said to the jury, "She got walloped upside the head by her boss and she got smack-attacked by her boss. That's what happened."

In a moment of high drama, Sheridan and Baute re-enacted the alleged slap for the jury, with Sheridan showing what Cherry supposedly did to her.

Lawyer Royal Oakes and INSIDE EDITION's Lisa Guerrero showed what it looked like to the jury.  Sheridan raised her right arm and slapped her lawyer across the head.

"It brought the jurors out of their seats. A huge win for the plaintiff for it to be reinacted that way," said Oakes.

"It was unfathomable to me," said a tearful Sheridan,"I had just been hit by my boss."

Cherry's lawyers are calling it "A light tap on the head."

Sheridan testified that he came to her trailer to apologize.

"On the doorstep, he said, 'I am on bended knee begging your forgiveness.'  I said, 'Why would you do that?' He wrapped his arms around me and apologized again," Sheridan said.

The jury was shown scenes of Sheridan's sexy man-eating character on Desperate Housewives. Sheridan felt that her character was crucial to the show's success, she said she was, "A singular voice on the show, sexual, overt and audacious. I believe people loved to hate her."

To prove that she had become a pop cultural icon, a memorable clip from Monday Night Football was also played in court. It was Sheridan wearing only a towel as she seduces Terrell Owens in the locker room.

All that attention came to an end when she lost her Desperate Housewives job.

The trial has also opened a rare window into stars salaries. Sheridan says she was paid just $6,000 for shooting the pilot for Desperate Housewives, but was making a whopping $175,000 per episode by the time her character was killed off.