A showbiz manager suing ‘difficult’ ex-client Sandra Bernhard for $250,000 is claiming early victory after the star’s bid for the case to be thrown out in October was ignored by a court, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
James Sliman, fired by the comedienne and actress after 10 years as her ‘shoulder to cry on’, is demanding money claiming wrongful dismissal, breach of verbal contract plus commissions and fees he asserts he’s owed.
Roseanne star Bernhard, 68, filed an application in Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn, New York, on October 10 to have the case dismissed or sent to arbitration on October 31 ‘or as soon thereafter’.
James Sliman alleges the comic forced him into doing ‘many unscrupulous, questionable and embarrassing things’ as part of a ‘hostile’ work environment
Bernhard, 68, was on the actors’ picket line in New York in July when when was joined by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Bernhard played bisexual Nancy Bartlett in ABC sitcom Roseanne for six years
However instead of any ruling, hearings have been set for February 6 next year. Delighted Sliman indicated this was a good sign for his case, telling DailyMail.com: ‘When the court does not grant what they want but set a date for February, it means this has to be discussed.
‘The court has indicated it is not going to automatically dismiss the case or send it to arbitration.’
Entertainment veteran Sliman, 66, has also made startling accusations in his case, as previously reported exclusively by DailyMail.com.
These include claims in his initial filing to the court that Bernhard – who played bisexual Nancy Bartlett in ABC sitcom Roseanne for six years – used phony invoices to bump up interview payments and cheat charities plus scammed venues out of their cut of merchandising sales at her live events.
Bernhard’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sliman said of documents Bernhard’s attorneys have filed to the court in response to his claim: ‘Never once have they ever addressed any of the specific complaints in my filing. They haven’t acknowledged them.
‘She hasn’t denied anything, she hasn’t denied one thing.
‘There is a line in one of their documents where her lawyers say everything Mr. Sliman says is false and defamatory.
‘But it’s not false and defamatory. If it’s defamatory, why haven’t they sued me for defamation?’
Sliman at one point accepted a partial payment from Bernhard and sign a settlement agreement. But he claims he was under duress and has now filed paperwork to nullify the deal.
‘Their only argument so far is that none of the stuff in the lawsuit applies because of the settlement agreement that I signed to get that first chunk of money she owed me,’ he said.
‘But twice I have notified the court and I filed a motion to have that settlement agreement invalidated.’
Sliman alleges in his bombshell court complaint that Bernhard – who claimed she and Madonna were lovers when they were both guests on Late Night with David Letterman – forced him into doing ‘many unscrupulous, questionable and embarrassing things’ as part of a ‘hostile’ work environment.
He says he was fired by the star of FX drama POSE in July after she ‘could not admit that her live shows were now selling poorly and her asking fees were too high’.
During a 1988 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, Bernhard and Madonna caused a stir when they said they were lovers. Bernhard went on to land a role in the pop superstar’s movie Truth or Dare
Flashback: Sandra and Madonna had one of the most iconic celebrity friendships of the ’80s and ’90s, before they fell out in 1992
A Brooklyn judge has turnedd down Sarah Bernhard’s attempt to get Sliman’s case diesmissed or sent to arbitration
Of the financial allegations, he tells the court in the July 21 filing obtained by DailyMail.com: ‘In dozens of instances, maybe hundreds, Miss Bernhard coerced me into sending phony invoices from her to charity organizations, LGBT charity organizations, television shows, documentary filmmakers etc.. who wanted to interview her.
‘Whether or not she was already being paid a fee, she would insist I get them to also cover costs of her hair and make-up people.
‘When they agreed, she would tell me to say it cost $1,000 when it was really only $2-300.
‘I would send the invoices and she would pocket the money. This at times actually became a small way she could supplement her income. This from a woman who everyone knows is a multi-millionaire.’
He continues: ‘She has various ways of trying not to pay venues 20 percent of her merchandise sales, which is standard.
‘She would simply refuse to pay it, or tell them they could only have 10 percent or just lie about how much she sold. Since it was cash only, this was very easy for her. And she would tell me she never reported that money to her accountants.
‘This behavior at times caused major issues with specific venues. Then I would have to step in and smooth it over.
‘She has repeatedly coerced me into her money making schemes, so she can literally pocket as little as a couple hundred dollars or thousands.’
Sliman was hired by Bernhard as her publicist in 2013. But he alleges she quickly ‘started asking more and more of me’ to include roles as ‘tour manager, personal assistant, travel agent, personal collection agency on her payments due, and about one year later, as actual manager of the live performance side of her career’.
‘She took extreme advantage of our business relationship and used me to do the work of up to four people’, he adds.
‘When we started in early 2013, Miss Bernhard also promised to raise my monthly publicity fee to the going rate when she got work on television shows.
Sliman worked with the ‘difficult’ star for nearly 11 years
She played one of the first bisexual characters on television in Roseanne
Bernhard appeared in 33 episodes of the ground-breaking comedy between 1991 and 1997. She is pictured with Roseanne Barr and Laurie Metcalf
Her most recent TV appearances came on the LGBTQ drama POSE where she played Judy, a nurse treating HIV patients. She appeared alongside MJ Rodriguez and Jeremy Pope
‘These raises never happened, even when she got roles on Two Broke Girls (CBS), two seasons of POSE (FX) and American Horror Story (FX).’
Cracks in their professional relationship widened in the months leading to his firing during phone calls and emails in which they discussed ‘the poor way she had been treating me… thus having a very negative effect’.
He adds: ‘We had also been having conversations about her rapidly declining ticket sales at live performances in various cities around the country and why this was affecting my ability to set up more live shows for her at the high fees she was demanding.
‘When I tried talking to her openly and honestly about these issues and what we could do to overcome these issues…she always blamed the venues for her low ticket sales.
‘When I explained to her that was not the case, she accused me of siding with the venues and not her. She also accused me of bullying her and tried to control the narrative of our conversations by making these false remarks.
‘In reality, she responded this way because she could not admit that her live shows were selling poorly and her asking fees were too high. I was having a very hard time finding venues that wanted her.’
He recounts one alleged incident in Provincetown, Massachusetts, when, he says, ‘she accused the young girl selling for her of skimming $50 off the total, which did not happen.
‘She wanted the girl to give her the $50. The girl later started crying and I had to give her $50 of my own money to smooth it over.
‘Instances like this became a normal occurrence working with Miss Bernhard over many years, causing me a great deal of distress.’
Sliman also claims he ‘fought many, many battles’ for Bernhard ‘including dozens of times with producers and other staff people at SiriusXM Radio where she was unhappy with her treatment hosting her own radio show with them’.
He says: ‘Over the years, Miss Bernhard developed a long standing reputation as “difficult” among managers, agents and other representatives in the entertainment business.
‘Whenever these issues came up at various times, she always said it was because she “is a woman”. I have now realized that is not the reason at all and now her wrath was being directed at me.’
Sliman also tells the court: ‘I continued to do many jobs for Miss Bernhard over this 10-11 year period and a great many people are aware of the integral part I played in her career at this time
‘But, just in the last few months, when I started speaking my mind and telling her I wasn’t going to be a “yes man” she became very difficult to talk to and everything became an argument.
‘When I started honestly discussing the obstacles I was now having with setting up continued live performances for her, she would blame everyone else and could not discuss that maybe the problem was her.’
The ex-manager also claims Bernhard put intolerable pressure on him by asking him to ‘fire or threaten to fire various other representatives who were working with us at various times…this put me in a very uncomfortable position because I worked along with these people’.
After filing his court papers in July, Sliman told DailyMail.com exclusively: ‘I feel used, very disappointed and hurt at what has happened. A little bit heartbroken.
‘I’m not naïve, I’ve worked with celebrities my entire adult life. I know it is what it is.
‘I know how fickle celebrities can be. But my relationship with Sandra was different. I spoke to her six or seven times a day.
Every time there was a problem in her life, even if it wasn’t business related, she would call to discuss it with me.
‘She would call me when she was feeling down about her career, and “oh my God, what should I do”? And I would be sympathetic and give her whatever advice I could. I thought we had a bond, she and I.
‘But in my opinion she turned out to be a very deceitful person, especially in the last couple of years.
Sliman alleged to DailyMail.com that he effectively revived Bernhard’s career after they met. ‘When I started it was, like, in the Bermuda Triangle,’ he said. ‘Personally I couldn’t believe she’d got to that point. I helped her get her career back on track.’
