Tired Photogs Settle Up with Denise and Pam

Shutterbugs who sued for assault and defamation over last year's run-in with the actresses at a Vancouver hotel have reached a confidential settlement; Charlie Sheen files court papers seeking more visits with his and Richards' two daughters

By Natalie Finn Aug 07, 2007 12:44 AMTags

Pamela Anderson and Denise Richards are apparently no longer haunting these photographers' dreams.

Two shutterbugs who sued the actresses in March for assault, battery and defamation stemming from a run-in last year at a Vancouver hotel, have reached an undisclosed settlement, after claiming that the defendants' behavior resulted in "anxiety, nightmares, sleeplessness" and other adverse side effects.

Scott Cosman and Rik Fedyk stated in their lawsuit, filed Mar. 23 in Los Angeles Superior Court, that while snapping pictures of the Blonde and Blonder costars at the River Rock Casino Resort in November, Richards turned physically abusive and started swearing up a storm—and that was before she hurled the plaintiffs' laptops off of a balcony, a slight for which the film's production company eventually reimbursed them.

But while Wild Things' Richards was the target of the assault allegations, Cosman and Fedyk accused both her and Anderson of making false statements about them to the Canadian press, thereby endangering their ability to continue to work successfully as freelance entertainment and sports photographers.

According to the complaint, the comely pair told various media outlets Cosman and Fedyk had snuck onto the Blonde and Blonder set, were harassing the film's stars and were escorted off the premises by security.

Richards told Access Hollywood at the time that she had politely asked Cosman and Fedyk to take a few shots and then leave but that one of them became belligerent and started spouting vulgarities about her and her family, resulting in her losing her temper.

"I just did what I did, and I feel terrible," the actress said.

Richards' publicist put it a bit differently: "Based on the actions of the paparazzi, they are lucky their laptops were the only things that were thrown off the ledge."

Although a wheelchair-bound elderly woman ended up with a bruised arm, after becoming the unintentional victim of Richards' computer toss, she didn't take legal action, and authorities never filed criminal charges.

Court documents filed July 26 state that the "full and complete confidential settlement of all claims" is contingent upon the plaintiffs' receipt of the funds and the dismissal of a related complaint pending in Canada.

Meanwhile, Blonde and Blonder still doesn't have a release date, so it's unclear when we'll get to see what all the fuss was about.

What isn't settled these days, however, is Richards' custody issues with ex-hubby Charlie Sheen, who has been having supervised visits with their two daughters since May 2006. The couple officially entered splitsville in November, but financial and custodial matters have yet to be completely hammered out.

"It is not necessary, appropriate or in the best interest of the children that [Richards] selects child-care providers for my custodial periods," the actor stated in court documents filed Friday. He also requests more time with his kids and asks that Richards be allowed to call him only in emergencies.

Sheen, whom Richards had an order of protection against up until last August, claims his former missus makes "unnecessary phone calls to me and my home." He and his fiancée, Brooke Mueller, are trying to provide the children—Sam, 3, and Lola, 2—with a "structured and safe environment," he states .

The Two and a Half Men star popped the question to Mueller last month on a Costa Rican beach, $500,000 engagement ring in hand.

"What I am doing is pursuing a relationship with my daughters that is unpolluted," Sheen told Entertainment Tonight, explaining that he wants to be able to choose his children's nanny and that the woman who accompanies his kids on their visits currently is employed by Richards.

"We would like to have that be [mine and Mueller's] decision...whether or not we include help," he said. "And when we do, it's somebody that we have chosen, not somebody who at times will go back and talk about the things that happened or didn't happen."