For two years, Farrah Fawcett's ex Ryan O'Neal and TV producer Craig Nevius had been involved in some serious legal dramz. Nevius had filed a lawsuit against O'Neal and others close to Farrah Fawcett over NBC's Farrah's Story documentary, claiming he was "shut out of the project and that the final cut didn't adhere to the [...]
For two years, Farrah Fawcett's ex Ryan O'Neal and TV producer Craig Nevius had been involved in some serious legal dramz.
Nevius had filed a lawsuit against O'Neal and others close to Farrah Fawcett over NBC's Farrah's Story documentary, claiming he was "shut out of the project and that the final cut didn't adhere to the actress' wishes."
Farrah Fawcett's estate filed a counter-suit again against Nevius, claiming he "embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars" from a production firm that he used to co-own with Farrah. They also claimed he gave out info and footage without Fawcett's approval.
NOW, Nevius has decided to settle because he can't afford to keep at it:
"After two years, I can no longer afford to fight Ryan O'Neal, Alana Stewart and Richard Francis over creative control of Farrah's Story and whether or not they had the right to take over the company that Farrah Fawcett and I formed to produce the documentary about her cancer fight and efforts to protect her privacy."
"Contrary to accusations, I have not profited from the film or this litigation in any way whatsoever. In fact, I have experienced profound losses, both professionally and personally."
"The only thing I am walking away with today is the knowledge that I did everything within my power to protect the artistic integrity and personal dignity of Farrah Fawcett who was not only my producing partner but my very dear friend. She showed me the best of humanity in the most trying of circumstances."
"I wish I could say the same of those who surrounded her during the last few months of her life. I will always believe that Ryan and Alana acted as squatters: isolating Farrah from me and others in order to obtain signatures that would ultimately allow them to turn the innovative and informative film we worked on for two years into a network deathwatch."
And here's what O'Neal's lawyer Howard Weitzman had to say about the settlement:
"The frivilous lawsuit filed against Alana Stewart and Ryan O'Neal was dismissed by Mr. Nevius with no payment of any money to him and an agreement that he would return any property that rightfully belonged to Ms. Fawcett or her Estate."
"It was Farrah who decided to replace Mr. Nevius with her best friend of 30 years (Alana Stewart) and her life partner for over 30 years (Ryan O'Neal) despite his wishful thinking to the contrary."
"The statement issued by Mr. Nevius is another sad attempt to justify his actions by using the media to spew outrageous lies about Alana and Ryan."
"Farrah's Story only became a successful Emmy nominated documentary once NBC was able to take over the project from Nevius. Hopefully Mr. Nevius will move on with his life and fade away."
More than anything else, we're just glad to hear that's all over with!
When bringing up Farrah in the future, it would be nice to do so in a more pleasant context, rather than doing so because of ugly legal drama.
What do U think about the outcome of this legal fight???
[Image via AP Images.]
Charlize Theron
Anna Faris
No comments:
Post a Comment