Ryan O'Neal -- NBC PhotoUnfortunately for Farrah Fawcett, cancer is no longer the only thing she has to battle.
A producer claiming to have been forced out of the ailing actress' documentary Farrah's Story has filed suit against Fawcett, partner Ryan O'Neal and close friend Alana Stewart, claiming the trio, who hold producing credits on the NBC special, physically threatened and otherwise blocked him from any role in the documentary—a project he claims to have labored on for two years.
Craig Nevius filed the suit, which also names O'Neal's business manager Richard B. Francis, in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday. His complaint alleges intentional interference with contract and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and is seeking damages.
"We are shocked by these allegations," Arnold Robinson, a rep for Fawcett, O'Neal and Stewart, told E! News.
"Here's a woman who everyone knows has been ill...to do something like this is horrific."
"This has been a very difficult time for Ryan O'Neal and Farrah's family and friends. When you see something like this, you have to question the motives of someone who can do something so hurtful during this very sensitive time in another person's life."
Nevius says his production company, Sweetened By Risk, signed on in 2004 to produce Chasing Farrah, a reality show chronicling Fawcett's life. Based on its success, Nevius claims he and Fawcett entered into an agreement in April 2008 to turn her home movies into another documentary project tentatively titled A Wing and a Prayer.
However, according to the lawsuit, he was contacted in September 2008 by O'Neal, who "demanded" Nevius relinquish production control of the project.
"When Nevius respectfully declined, O'Neal physically threatened him," the suit reads.
In March of this year, Nevius claims he lost contact with Fawcett due to the rapid progression of her cancer and inability to "function and/or communicate." The following month, according to the court documents, Stewart told Nevius that Fawcett was "not doing well."
He claims Stewart then informed him that she would not hand over the home footage she shot of her friend or sign a contract for the documentary unless her pay was doubled and her name added to the show's producer credits.
In subsequent months, Nevius claims O'Neal and Francis wrongfully presented themselves as authorities at Nevius' production company and proceeded to make a deal to air the documentary on NBC under false pretenses. He says they never had the authority to do so.
Last month, as the NBC deal was allegedly being brokered behind his back, Nevius claims Francis made "additional threats of physical violence" against him and that he was completely shut out of Fawcett's life.
Nevius is seeking unspecified punitive damages.
"This is not about money, this is not about ego, this is not about anything but Farrah," the plaintiff told E! News Thursday. "I was entrusted with overseeing this very personal project. I am not only a colleague of her, but a friend."
"I want Farrah's vision to be seen and her voice to be heard," Nevius added. "I regret the timing of this, but not to act is acceptance. I did everything I possibly could to avoid this, including saying, 'Look, give me five minutes in a room with Farrah telling me this is what she wants, I'm gone.'"
—Additional reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum and Ashley Fultz
(Originally published May 14, 2009, at 12: 25 p.m. PT)
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