Fawcett's former producer speaks out about lawsuit
The filmmaker suing RYAN O'NEAL over a documentary charting FARRAH FAWCETT's battle with anal cancer has slammed TV producers for ignoring her desire to focus on problems in America's healthcare system.
Craig Nevius alleges he worked with the actress for two years up until her cancer diagnosis in 2006 - when a group including O'Neal, Fawcett's pal Alana Stewart and the actress' business manager Richard Francis interfered in a deal he made with Fawcett in 2004 to document her life - in a film entitled Chasing Farrah.
Nevius claims Fawcett's initial vision of documenting problems in America's healthcare system was abandoned for NBC's Farrah's Story, which aired on Friday (15May09), reports the New York Post.
He says, "It's not the show Farrah Fawcett wanted... She didn't want a news magazine format, where her home movies were being used. This was supposed to be her voice - not others. Farrah wanted the show to place more emphasis on the problems of finding medical treatment for rare and hard-to-treat cancers. An anti-cancer chemotherapy that in the U.S. can cost $5,000 (£3,330) per treatment, costs $500 (£330) or $600 (£400) in Germany. Look, Farrah's got the money - but it boggled her mind. She'd ask: 'How do people afford this?'
"One of the scenes that got cut out was her saying: 'I don't want to put our country down, but something is wrong.' I'm not saying there wasn't anything positive in what aired. It's just not what she envisioned. It was changed when she could no longer stand behind it."
And Nevius has blasted producers for showing footage of her son Redmond shackled at the feet and wearing a prison uniform during a visit with his mother in the hospital earlier this month (May09) - insisting she was clear about keeping her troubled son off the air.
He adds, "(She was) very protective. He (Redmond) wasn't allowed to be on Chasing Farrah because his drug problems were just beginning to become public. He was getting it together and going through counselling at the time. She didn't want a permanent record on film that would follow him throughout his later life."
Fawcett, O'Neal and Stewart have denied Nevius' claim for damages, criticising him for making the "horrific" accusations and chastising him for taking legal action during such a trying period for the ailing actress.
