Marcia O'Brien apparently doesn't like being called "vindictive," and Lloyd Eisler doesn't seem to like being told when he can and cannot call someone "vindictive."

The ex-wife of Kristy Swanson's current beau has threatened to take legal action against the couple, claiming that various statements each has made to the press are defamatory and have had "an alarming and detrimental effect" on her and her two young children with Eisler.

Swanson was arrested June 16 for allegedly assaulting O'Brien the night before when the actress accompanied Eisler on a scheduled visit with sons Ethan, 3, and Seth, 19 months.

The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer immediately responded with her own assault charge against O'Brien on June 17, telling police that it was O'Brien who had wigged out on her when she accompanied Eisler to O'Brien's home to visit with the kids.

After which, Swanson described her version of events in a series of high-profile interviews and Eisler issued a statement apologizing for his ex-wife's "vindictive" behavior and alleging that O'Brien pressed charges to cover up that fact that she instigated the scuffle. Publicist Michael Sands, meanwhile, helped get the couple's messages across.

In a letter to Eisler's legal camp, dated July 9, O'Brien's attorney, Mark Frederick, charges that Eisler and Swanson—who met last year when they were paired up on Skating with Celebrities—have orchestrated, with Sands' help, a scheme "to turn Mr. Eisler and Ms. O'Brien's separation and their lives into something of a media circus."

O'Brien is "not only pestered by the tabloid media by telephone and otherwise; she has found herself the object of an ongoing media spectacle," Frederick wrote.

The lawyer requested that Eisler and Swanson, who welcomed their first child together in February, consider the adverse effects that their public mudslinging might have on Eisler's other two kids, as well as on his relationship with his former spouse.

On July 10, however, Sands' attorney wrote back to Frederick, informing him that his ill-intentioned communiqué only put O'Brien, who lives in Canada, at risk for further publicity in the U.S.

"Although the Kingston (Ontario) Police may have only charged Ms. Swanson, you seem to believe that established that Ms. Swanson actually assaulted Marcia O'Brien," Los Angeles-based attorney David Marcus wrote.

He also denied that Eisler has told the media that his ex had "laid a beating" on his current fiancée, which Frederick accused him of saying.

Marcus also mentions an appearance that O'Brien made on Dr. Keith Ablow's syndicated talk show, during which she talked about the incident with Swanson and, according to Marcus, "made numerous actionable slanderous remarks about Lloyd Eisler."

Meanwhile, Marcus was absolutely right about O'Brien's latest action only generating more publicity, even if only the kind conjured up by her ex's camp.

Sands issued a statement Thursday calling O'Brien a "bully" and an "out of control crazy maker."

"The need for Marcia to suppress and control the flow of honest information is unconscionable," Sands said. "It goes to show you that Marcia only believes that her story is the only one that needs to be told..."

"Perhaps Marcia would like to come clean and say that she instigated the attack on Kristy Swanson."

At the time, Sands claimed that Swanson suffered bruises on her left knee and left arm, as well as scratches on her arm and near her back, as a result of the alleged attack.

A hearing on the assault charge pending against the reality show winner—the only one who has been formally charged in the matter to date—is set for July 31.

Swanson and Eisler reportedly hooked up when O'Brien was eight months pregnant with Seth, and Swanson, who announced that she was pregnant in August, eventually hit the damage control circuit to try to avoid being labeled a homewrecker.

"Lloyd and Marcia were separated before I ever met him; I did not break up the marriage," the recent Law & Order: CI guest star told People last month, after the fracas between her and O'Brien occurred.

"Changes had to be made—and I chose to make them," Eisler added.

And as for the assault charge: "She attacked me, and I am confident that after the investigation is complete, the truth will come out," Swanson said.