Cusack Fan Can't Say Anything

Tue., Jul. 18, 2006 12:35 PM PDT by Gina Serpe

Turns out John Cusack prefers his unsolicited declarations of love to include a boombox and Peter Gabriel and not, say, bags of screwdrivers and threats.

Go figure.

The erstwhile Say Anything star was granted a three-year restraining order Tuesday against a transient Los Angeles woman he claims has been stalking him for roughly a year and a half.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz issued the order against Emily Diane Leatherman, ruling that the 31-year-old woman refrain from attempting to contact Cusack in person, by phone, by unheeded love letter or by email.

Leatherman was also ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from the actor, as well as keep a 500-foot distance from his home, workplace, car and offices in which he does business.

The Serendipity star, who was not present for Tuesday's hearing, filed a temporary restraining order against his overeager fan in June, claiming she had shown "unusual interest" in him for roughly 16 to 18 months.

According to court documents, Cusack claimed Leatherman had long been "stalking, throwing long letters of interest over [his] fence in bags with rocks and screwdrivers inside, making unannounced visits to offices of people [he works] with in an attempt to meet with [him] and listing [his] address as her own."

Police were unable to find any listed address for the woman. Other than Cusack's, that is.

Earlier this year, Leatherman reportedly began having her mail sent to the actor's home and told people that she was shacking up with the star.

"Mail addressed to her has been arriving at my residence without my permission," Cusack said in court papers. "I have never met this person."

The 40-year-old A-lister also claimed that while Leatherman never threatened violence against him, she did warn that she would harm herself if Cusack did not reply to her protestations of love.

The woman, who has a history of arrests for assault with a deadly weapon, told the judge during Tuesday's hearing that she had previously found herself in a similar legal situation with Tom Cruise.

Restraining order aside, Leatherman already appears to have found a way to log more face time with Cusack.

According to Los Angeles' City News Service, Leatherman filed a civil harassment countersuit against the actor on Friday.