14 DAY TRIAL // Actress Valerie Harper is being sued by a playwright for getting brain cancer and not disclosing the diagnosis to him, hoping that she would still keep her job in the Broadway play he had written. Matthew Lombardo says that this translated into a huge loss for him, which is why he’s asking for $2 million (€1.44 million) in damages.
Harper was diagnosed with brain cancer and given just months to live in 2012; she came out with the announcement in 2013. In the lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Lombardo says that she failed to inform him of it because she thought she could still appear in his Broadway production “Looped.”
“Harper couldn't keep the ruse going for long – Lombardo and co. claim her evil plan fell apart when she began to forget her lines and slur her speech during rehearsals,” TMZ reports. Soon afterwards, Harper dropped out of the play completely because of her health, which means Lombardo and the director had to find a replacement for her at the last minute.
“Lombardo claims the inconvenience cost him $500,000 [€361,716]. He also wants an additional $1.5 million [€1.1 million] to punish Harper for her heinous misdeeds,” TMZ notes.
Lombardo’s lawsuit actually comes in response to one filed by Harper, who says that the playwright refused to pay her as stipulated by contract because of the diagnosis. Clearly, Lombardo thinks that she is the one who owes him money.
Since the shocking announcement made in March 2013, that she had only 3 more months to live, Harper’s health has improved considerably. She was also able to do Dancing With the Stars on ABC that year and, though she didn’t make it far in the competition, she used her time to raise awareness on the disease and to send an inspirational message to all those in a similar situation: never lose hope.
Just recently, Harper had to issue a denial that she was “absolutely cancer-free,” as one of the British tabs had misquoted her. Her condition has improved considerably, but she is not cancer-free, she said. However, that’s not to say that she was giving up hope of beating the disease.
Valerie Harper suffers from a rare form of cancer known as leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, in which cancer cells spread into the membrane surrounding the brain. Her progress since treatment was dubbed by one oncologist as defying the odds, in an NBC special that aired in late 2013.