Valerie Harper has had a roller coaster year. Diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer last year and given a fatal diagnosis, the Rhoda star has since received the miraculous news that she is on the mend.
The producer of Valerie Harper’s former Broadway show Looped is now suing her for $2 million for not revealing that the terminal illness had returned and another $1.5 million in punitive damages.
According to TMZ, Matthew Lombardo has filed a lawsuit claiming Harper failed to notify them that the cancer had returned, forcing them to have to find a last minute replacement.
The actress received the diagnosis that she only had months to live in 2012 after she began forgetting lines and slurring words while in rehearsals for the national production of the play.
When she understandably pulled out of the play, Lombardo had to find a suitable replacement, costing him a reported $500,000.
Valerie Harper here, AND I am so grateful to be here, to be able to wish each and every one of you – Happy New Year!
Have a wonderful 2014!!
— Valerie Harper (@ValerieHarper) January 1, 2014
The talented actress recently revealed her prognosis has seen a remarkable improvement.
In a recent Closer Weekly cover, the magazine claimed she was cancer free after being told a year ago she had only months to live.
A day after the magazine hit the stands, Rhoda star was asked to explain what she meant.
“I want to thank Closer Weekly for giving me a chance to clarify my story and, more importantly, to address the headline which states that I am cancer free. I am not cancer free,” the actress said.
“As I have stated on many occasions, I have Leptomeningeal Carcinomatosis (Lepto), lung cancer that has traveled to the meninges around my brain,” she said.
A little morning fox-trot with the amazing Valerie Harper…
#DWTS pic.twitter.com/WroN51VeQG
— Mario Lopez (@MarioLopezExtra) September 19, 2013
“While speaking to the reporter for Closer Weekly, I was relaying a story where my doctor had told me that in his 30-year practice, I was the only Lepto patient he has seen without other cancers already present,” she said. “I had just had my yearly full-body scan to determine if this sneaky cancer had migrated to other parts of my body. Therefore, in completing that part of the story, I told the reporter with excitement that I was cancer-free, but what I meant to say was that my full body scan revealed that I was still thankfully cancer free.”
“What all parties want to be made clear now is that while the Lepto has not spread, I am still not cured. I am a cancer patient, and I continue to fight with the hope that a cure may be just around the corner,” she said.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
