Nicollette Sheridan Sues Desperate Housewives Producer

Nicollette Sheridan is suing Desperate Housewives producer Marc Cherry for wrongful termination, claiming he slapped her and then wrote her character off the show. INSIDE EDITION has the story.

Nicollette Sheridan is suing her former boss at Desperate Housewives for $20 million, claiming he slapped her across the face.

The blonde beauty says when she complained about what happened, her popular character on the show was killed off. In a lawsuit filed this week, Sheridan charges that she was assaulted by Housewives executive producer Marc Cherry.

It happened in 2008 on the Desperate Housewives set at Universal Studios where the hit show is filmed. Sheridan says Cherry freaked out when she asked him a question about the script. According to the lawsuit Cherry took her aside and "forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head."

Los Angeles Times entertainment reporter Mary Murphy told INSIDE EDITION, "Nicollette Sheridan claims that there was a hostile environment on the set. Only the people on that set know the truth."

The lawsuit charges Cherry with "wrongful termination." It claims he retaliated by writing her out of the show. Later that season, Sheridan's character Edie gets killed when her car collides with a telephone pole and she's electrocuted.

Sheridan says when fellow Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher went above Cherry's head to complain about him, the producer allegedly said, "I hope Teri Hatcher gets hit by a car and dies."

ABC, which is also named in the lawsuit, released a statement saying, "While we have yet to see the actual complaint, we investigated similar claims made by Ms. Sheridan last year and found them to be without merit."