Calista Flockhart, star of Fox Television's popular "Ally McBeal" series, has recently made some interesting moves with regard to managing her profile. These changes come at a time when two major stories are affecting Flockhart's image.
First, there were rumors that the sexy television star was suffering from an eating disorder.
"It's a false claim," said a source who chose to remain anonymous. "She works 14 hours a day and she's very healthy. In fact, anyone who works her hours would have to be healthy."
Then, there were reports that surfaced last week about a New York law firm, Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein and Selz, that had filed a civil action against Flockhart, claiming non-payment of fees. The firm said it had entered into an agreement with Flockhart, guaranteeing it five percent of her "Ally McBeal" salary in return for negotiating the deal on her behalf. On Oct. 13, E-Online‹an entertainment news site on the Internet‹reported that Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein and Selz had filed a claim stating that Flockhart owes the firm $39,000 in fees, which is five percent of the $780,000 she is estimated to have earned thus far on "Ally McBeal."
The media have had a field day pointing out the irony in Flockhart being sued in real life while playing a lawyer on TV.
In what appears to be a development connected to this activity, Flockhart switched publicists last week and is currently represented by the PMK firm in Los Angeles. PMK says it is happy to be working with Flockhart and responded to the claims of unpaid legal fees with the following prepared statement:
"Calista Flockhart denies the validity of the lawsuit that was recently filed against her. An answer to the suit will be filed within the next week by her attorney and it will be extremely revealing of what truly happened."
Flockhart's LA-based lawyer, Barry Tyerman of Armstrong, Hirsch, Jackoway, Tyerman and Wertheimer, was out of town and unavailable for comment at press time.
Maura Wogan, a partner at Frankfurt, Garbus, Klein and Selz, said Flockhart had visited her firm's office and that a partner in her firm had negotiated Flockhart's deal for her test, pilot, and series.
"So far, we have not been paid anything, not one penny," of the $39,000, Wogan said. "We made every reasonable effort to try to resolve this but we were not successful so she's forcing us to bring suit."
On a brighter note, Flockhart joined several other Fox stars, who seemed to have been selectively placed by the network in the stands at Yankee Stadium during the first two games of the World Series. Fox produces "Ally McBeal" and is broadcasting the 1998 World Series. The actress appeared to be snacking on popcorn while wearing an original Babe Ruth Yankees cap, which is owned by the Yank's ace pitcher, David Wells. The Sultan's cap is said to have cost Wells $35,000.
Flockhart's publicist believes the fact that the actress was shown eating snack food on television had nothing to do with any staged effort to dispel rumors of an eating disorder. "She just went to the game to have a great time," the publicist said. Asked if Flockhart had to return Wells' Babe Ruth hat, the rep said she wasn't sure but described the actress as a hardcore Yankee fan who always wears a baseball cap.