Audience Member Suing Rosie O'Donnell Show

Jun 11, 2003 5:38 pm US/Eastern

(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) A 71-year-old Westchester County woman has sued the producers of Rosie O'Donnell's defunct talk show for $3 million, saying she was hit in the mouth with a hard rubber ball while she was in the studio audience.

Lucille DeBellis, of Hartsdale, N.Y., said she was at a taping of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" in Manhattan on Nov. 29, 2001, when a show staffer used a slingshot-type device to fire an object called a "cuzball" -- or koosh ball -- into the audience during the warm-up.

DeBellis, invited to the show by a friend who had tickets, says in papers filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court that the ball struck her "squarely in the mouth, causing her to suffer pain and swelling, as well as bleeding in her gums."

DeBellis' lawyer, William J. Dealy, said Wednesday that by the time his client arrived home, the injury had worsened and she had swelling and lumps in her mouth. He said a doctor gave her steroids, antibiotics and cortisone injections to reduce the lesions.

DeBellis' physical discomfort and embarrassment about her appearance caused her to turn down holiday parties and other social events and spend the 2001 Christmas season in her home, court papers say.

"Furthermore, the pain and soreness around plaintiff's mouth adversely affected plaintiff's relationship with her boyfriend," court papers say.

They say she was forced to live with the lumps on her lips and mouth for months.

DeBellis' lawsuit names the show's producer, Warner Bros. Television, its affiliated companies AOL Time Warner Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc., and two unknown individuals as defendants. O'Donnell is not a defendant.

A Warner spokeswoman and vice president, Kate Chilton, did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

Dealy said DeBellis was one of New York City's first female police officers. He said she was an officer from 1957 to 1967, when she left to raise a family.

"The Rosie O'Donnell Show" went off the air in 2002.

Quoted:
What does that have to do with gun violence? Furthermore, Rosie wasn't even listed as a defendant. What was your subject line talking about?!

[b]He said a doctor gave her steroids, antibiotics and cortisone injections to reduce the lesions.[/b]

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[url]http://photos.ar15.com/WS_Content/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=13597[/url]

DeBellis' physical discomfort and embarrassment about her appearance caused her to turn down holiday parties and other social events and spend the 2001 Christmas season in her home, court papers say.