Apparently the author of Colin Farrell: A Dark Twisted Puppy had more to give the actor last week than a copy of her latest magnum opus.
Dessarae Bradford, who unexpectedly approached Farrell during a Tonight Show taping Thursday and left a copy of her self-published tell-all on Jay Leno's desk before being escorted out of the building, announced Monday that she had been trying to serve the 30-year-old Irishman with court papers.
Whatever she was trying to do, Farrell didn't much appreciate it. First he joked to Leno that he had just met his first stalker. Then he obtained a temporary restraining order against her the next day, compelling her to stay at least 150 yards away from him; his son, James; and James' mother, model Kim Bordenave.
On the other hand, Bradford wrote on her personal Website after the incident that she is "not stalking Colin Farrell," but in fact is "too self-absorbed to ever stalk anyone."
"I am telling the truth," she continued, directing her comments at the media. "Colin and his handlers are lying...If you all don't start checking more thoroughly what Colin's people are saying you will be unknowingly, yet viciously lying to your viewers, readers and listeners, not to mention destroying my name, and my life."
Bradford sued Farrell in December 2004 and again in July 2005 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging he had stalked her with phone calls and profane, smutty text messages. After her initial claims proved to be too small even for small-claims court, the 31-year-old woman re-sued the Miami Vice star for $10 million in U.S. District Court in May, adding slander to the original harassment allegation. A federal judge has since ordered her to produce clear evidence why this suit shouldn't be tossed out, as well.
She said that no one has seen footage of last week's Tonight Show incident because Farrell gave her a much warmer reception than reports have suggested.
"Security never came over to us and Mr. Leno never moved from his seat nor summons [sic] his security because Colin was talking to me comfortably with his whole arm draped around me extremely close," Bradford said on her site. "He chatted with me as I tried to explain my presence at the show, until he realized people took notice of us talking closely. He then whispered softly for security after he and I were still debating about settling this court matter before going to court."
Instead of taking her by the elbow and steering her toward waiting security, as eyewitness reports have stated, Farrell "put his arm around me and started walking me off the stage whispering certain things to me that I will mention later, trying to avoid being detected by the microphone still attached to him at the time."
Bradford, who also penned My S/M Romp with Alec Baldwin, told E! News outside the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles Monday that NBC security "parted like the Red Sea" as she walked toward the stage. The court papers weren't in her hand at the time, she said, but she had mainly been trying to distract Farrell and Leno so that a private investigator in her employment could serve the bloke with the hearty Irish brogue.
(She also denied reports that used to be a phone sex operator, saying that she is only an author.)
"Colin has hurt me so deeply, and I'm here to disparage the rumors and lies," Bradford told reporters. "I am not a stalker, and he's machete-chopped my name [in public]." The aspiring auteur also passed out copies of her book.
"I didn't bum-rush the stage," Bradford added, claiming that Farrell "immediately" recognized her. She added that her associate was able to serve the actor later than night at the Miami Vice premiere in Westwood. The Michael Mann-directed film hits U.S. theaters this Friday.
A court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16 for Bradford to respond to Farrell's concerns about his and his family's safety.
Farrell joins John Cusack on the list of male celebrities playing the he-said, she-said game right now. A transient woman whom Cusack obtained a restraining order against last week has filed for a court order barring him from approaching her. You know, just in case the mood struck.