Eric Charbonneau/Getty ImagesMarcia, Marcia, Marcia. Greg, Greg, Greg.
Last month, erstwhile Brady Buncher Barry Williams sought a restraining order against his live-in girlfriend of three years, claiming Elizabeth Kennedy threatened suicide and pulled a knife on him after her failure to take home the crown in a beauty pageant sent her into a downward spiral.
Now Kennedy has struck back with a stack of court documents of her own, branding Williams a liar and saying his legal claims were nothing more than a preemptive strike after he discovered her plans to file a palimony and wrongful termination suit against him.
It's definitely hard to find good help these days. Specifically, good help that doesn't get litigious when you date, then dump, them.
According to Kennedy's New Year's Eve filing in Los Angeles Superior Court, she claims Williams' filing was "nothing other than an attempt to embarrass and defame Ms. Kennedy, being brought in retaliation for her incurring 'excessive' charges on his credit card while they were living together."
Kennedy further asserts that the restraining order was "his attempt to obtain some type of advantage in the anticipated litigation."
The 26-year-old (or, if you believe Williams' court papers, 30-year-old) Kennedy says that the 55-year-old actor "wined, dined, and seduced" her at the start of her employment, then fired her after lobbing the "untrue excuse" that she overcharged his credit card.
As for those other damning allegations, namely that Kennedy knocked Williams' glasses off his face, tried (and failed) to kick him, threatened to destroy his personal belongings at their briefly shared Marina del Rey pad, pulled a knife on him and threatened to kill herself and harm him, Kennedy says not only did those events not happen—they couldn't have happened.
"She was not even in the state of California on the date that [Williams] alleges the threat occurred," the filing states. In denying the other allegations, Kennedy calls it "noteworthy" that Williams failed to elaborate on the circumstances behind any of the incidents and definitively stating that "she never hit or struck" him.
And that whole blade-wielding thing? "Ms. Kennedy further denies that she ever tried to pull a knife from a knife holder other than to cook a meal."
She also claims that in each alleged instance, Williams' son Brandon was present, and claims the boy would have both witnessed any bad behavior and likely reported it to his mother.
Besides, she states, "it is important to keep in mind that [Williams] is 6'0 and 180 lbs. while Ms. Kennedy is 5'2 and 103 lbs."
"I am stunned by the suggestion that a man the size of Barry Williams would think he needs a restraining order to prevent being slapped by a woman of my size," she said. "I believe the more likely explanation is Barry is being vindictive because of a financial dispute between us, and not because I pose any threat to him or his property."
Attorneys for the ex-couple were supposed to appear in court to discuss the restraining order this morning, but the hearing was canceled. No word yet on whether they hashed out some sort of agreement.
If not, let's get Florence Henderson on the horn to get this thing settled once and for all.
—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum
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Yikes! It might only be a matter of time before one of these two make it into our Mug-Shot Mania gallery!