Evan Rachel Wood is not having the best month. Just a week after a rep for the actress and estranged husband Jamie Bell confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly that the couple had split, Wood is being sued by producers of 10 Things I Hate About Life for allegedly backing out of the movie last year.
According to Deadline Hollywood, 10 Things Film LLC filed a suit on Thursday, June 5, claiming that the True Blood actress breached contract by refusing to appear in the flick, a sequel to the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You. Wood, 26, signed on to the project in 2012, but production was shut down in January 2013.
Per Deadline, producers allege that the star told them in February 2013 that she was "unable and unwilling to continue" with filming, and "would be unable to recommence" until November 2013. They further claim that she then opted to "walk out on the project." (Wood announced she was pregnant in January of that year; she and Bell welcomed a baby boy in July.)
The actress' reps, meanwhile, say she did nothing wrong. "The lawsuit is preposterous and simply a bullying tactic from financially troubled producers," they said in a statement to Deadline. "The production shut down in February 2013 when the producers ran out of money. Even after that, Evan agreed to resume production in Nov. 2013 by which time the producers said they would have cleared up their issues."
"However, the producers still could not get their act together," the statement continued, "nor did they pay Evan money that was owed. Repeated subsequent promises by the producers to resume production and pay Evan also turned out to be false. Enough is enough. The producers, not Evan, have breached contract."
10 Things Film LLC is seeking more than $30 million from Wood, including $20 million in lost profits, $5 million in special damages, $500,000 in lost financing costs, and $6 million in equity investments.
