Minnie Driver has a complicated relationship with her neighbor in the TV show “About a Boy,” but in real-life it is downright toxic.
The British actress has now responded to the lawsuit filed last week by Daniel and Mary Lou Perelmutter, who claim that she has made their lives a living hell since they decided to buy property next to her Los Angeles home.
“He can make allegations. I’m just a person. I’m a single mom,” Driver told ET on Wednesday. “I would ask him to stop if only for my kid.”
The Perelmutters claim Driver has harassed them ever since they purchased the property in 2014, allegedly derailing construction efforts by obstructing the entrance and disabling the gate. She then began “verbally harassing” them, the Perelmutters claim, screaming “all manner of obscenities.”
The suit also alleged that the actress sped her car toward the construction workers and the Perelmutters, and threw “baby-food jars filled with black paint against the walls of the home.”
However, Driver said it is Perelmutter who is breaking the rules, especially in regard to their shared driveway.
“There are all kinds of easement codes and he was found in contempt of that before, and now we’re asking that he be found in contempt of that again,” the “Good Will Hunting” actress told ET. “I absolutely understand where his property line is, but easements trump property lines.”
As for the speeding allegations, she said: “I would never drive dangerously with my children or with other people’s children,” adding that she drives a carpool of 7-year-olds. “That is an egregious allegation.”
In a statement to TheWrap, an attorney for Driver’s neighbors told a different side to the story, however.
“Mr. Perelmutter is disabled and in failing health. Ms. Driver is a powerful Hollywood celebrity. Instead of using her position to exemplify grace and compassion, she makes Mr. Perelmutter’s life miserable,” lawyer Brandon Fernald said. “Now she’s trying to convince the media she’s the victim. That is an inappropriate use of her celebrity status. Mr. Perelmutter’s illness during the past year, coupled with the aggravation from Ms. Driver’s harassment, contributed to what other neighbors interpreted as irritability toward them,” he added.
Last year, Driver filed a temporary restraining order against Daniel Perelmutter, claiming that he cursed and blew smoke in her 7-year-old son Henry’s face.
“His aggressive conduct is escalating, and we are frightened about what Mr. Perelmutter will do next,” Driver said in the filing, according to ET.
But Perelmutter’s attorney said that while Driver “was able to obtain a standard 21-day temporary restraining order against Mr. Perelmutter on Nov. 24, 2015, it was dismissed Jan. 5, 2016 when she failed to appear for the hearing and present her evidence,” adding that a restraining order against Mr. Perelmutter has never been issued.