Dallas star sues over maid's 'gun-toting showdown' claim

Herald online

6 May, 2009 11:15 PM7 mins to read

Victoria Principal is suing a maid who alleges she pulled a gun on her and threatened to shoot her dead. Photo / AP

Former

Dallas

legend

Victoria Principal

, who played Pamela Ewing in the hit US TV series, is countersuing a maid who alleges she pulled a gun on her and threatened to shoot her dead.

Housekeeper

Maribel Banegas

claims the 59-year-old actress threw a hissy fit after she spent longer than usual walking the erstwhile star's pet dog, a Shih Tzu-type breed called Mei-Ling.

Banegas says she explained to Principal that she was merely waiting for the pooch to "do its business", but the star fired her on the spot.

Wham-pam!

After Banegas asked for her wages Principal allegedly went upstairs and came back with a gun in her hand, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The hired help alleges the actress then "pointed and aimed" the gun at her and "verbally threatened to kill", as well as asking another housekeeper who was present "to stand aside in order that she could kill the plaintiff."

Believing her end was nigh, the maid said she then locked herself in another room and called 911, while Principal stood outside the door continuing to make threats, says the lawsuit.

Banegas is claiming assault, false imprisonment and emotional distress and is calling for unspecified damages.

No thank you, ma'am

But now Principal is fighting back with her own take on events and a juicy lawsuit claiming she was a temporary worker who was fired for being unprofessional and aggressive.

While she admits to picking up the gun and pointing it at the maid, she says she did so only because she feared for her safety. She also accuses the housekeeper of assault, trespass, civil extortion, animal cruelty and negligence.

Principal's countersuit describes the maid as a "formidable figure, being almost six feet tall and weighing over 160 pounds" (sweetie, that's not a maid, that's a man) who became enraged after being fired, struck another maid, grabbed Principal's dog before leaving the house while she "repeatedly slammed the back door with such force that...the door frame itself was damaged."

The suit claims Principal was so scared, and "Out of concern for her own safety, as well as that of Ferrior [housekeeper] and her dog, under the guise that she was going to get Banegas money, Principal went upstairs to her bedroom and retrieved a handgun of which Principal was in legal possession."

Even after waving her handgun in her face, the maid allegedly remained "undeterred" and "continued to pound the kitchen counter and shout"...something along the lines of "Give me money!" according to the suit. Which makes us think of this classic one-hit wonder...

We can feel a song coming on:

The next morning, Principal says, she found her dog writhing in pain which a veterinarian with healing hands later diagnosed as three injured vertebrae - allegedly caused by some form of maid-induced abuse.

Seriously, this nonsense has all the emotional melodrama and hallmarks of a typical

Dallas

storyline. Actually, we seem to remember a similar plot in

Dallas

circa 1981, although sadly lacking the totally barking Shih Tzu angle.

Video: Who shot human oil-slick J.R. Ewing?

If you're too young to remember the skullduggery and dastardly deeds of

Dallas

' finest dysfunctional deviants, ask your mother. She'll remember the granddaddy of them all. The TV phenomenon that sucked in viewers with the dramas, shoulder pads, scandals, Bobby Ewing's man rug and intrigues of the Texan elite...all pursuing power, wealth, sex and glorious extravagance before the wow-did-you-see-that cliffhanger!

Quote of the day

"I would do insane things. We'd be working on scenes...and we'd decide, 'Hey, let's strip down to our bare a**es and streak down the hallway. Somewhere in the Disney vaults there's video footage with my penis on it."

Shia LaBeouf recounts his crazy days on Disney show Even Stevens.

Got your crazy

Some random looney tune felt compelled to gatecrash

Britney Spears'

stage last week and caused an almighty fuss, before being arrested for trespassing on her turf.

It all went South during the singer's (cough) Connecticut gig when a fan rushed on stage in a vain bid to embrace his icon.

A snitch who witnessed the spectacle said: "This guy ran across the stage and towards Britney during Womanizer.

"He attempted to dance with Britney. She looked extremely spooked."

Shocked is an understatement. Take a peek at this hilarious video of the stage-crasher in question on his pilgrimage to pray at Brit-Brit's altar.

The comedy unfolds at around the

2min 19 sec

mark.

Cruel, but fair

Lindsay Lohan

totally looks like...

This

Yes, we know, we're going straight to hell. But at least we'll have the pleasure of your good company...

*Thanks to

Celebrity Rant

for the piccie

Not tickled pink

And now for a very important announcement:

Singer

Pink

is NOT bisexual. She is straight, boys and girls.

Fable generator the

News of The World

reported over the weekend that she had finally put paid to incessant rumours about her sexuality and come out of the closet.

The rag reported Pink as saying: "I'm not embarrassed about being bisexual. This is who I am."

Cobblers, she says.

Tapping away with feral fury on Twitter, she said:

"I just read that I'm bisexual. So 1991. Good thing people write articles about me so I can get my facts straight," she tweeted.

"Can't WAIT for the day when people stop talking about sexual preference."

Before she was famous

Yet more vintage video footage of

Susan Boyle

has emerged, showing her flexing her vocal chords at the tender age of 22.

Here she be performing at a singing contest 25 years ago, belting out

The Way We Were

Blind bits

Dirty secrets, naughty scandals...

"Which D-list rapper got in a hemp, er, heap, of trouble with event sponsors when he lit up a joint at their bash? They couldn't kick him out because he was the "big" celebrity name of the night, but they didn't end up paying him."

NYDN

"Which celebrity couple is nicknamed "Bye-bi STI" for their habit of picking up men or women for threesomes... and leaving them with sexually transmitted infections?"

Mirror

"Which closeted TV icon should be more careful about whom he dates? He has been squiring an infamous gay bartender around town, and everyone's noticing."

NYDN

What a frock-up

We love you

Madonna

, but this is the

most hideous outfit

we've ever seen you in.

She wore that monstrosity at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala this week, attened by various fashion forward/backward A-listers.

Poll:

Tell us who you think was the worst-dressed celeb at the event

here

What in the name of mercy was Madge thinking? And where was

Jesus

to intervene and stall this sartorial sin? Probably pinned against a wall and biting his bottom lip as she screamed: "Does my bum look big in this?" So he did what any man would: he lied and let her parade about town looking like a cross between a dominatrix and a pantomime dame. Naughty boy. Bad Jesus.

Video: New U2, Magnificent

Pretty average.

BBB

Fast gossip

Not your typical link party...

Cindy Crawford'

s husband denies sexual harassment claim:

OK!

Eva Longoria

Tony Parker

would adopt:

Amy Winehouse