"Mini-Me" of "Austin Powers" fame is suing his ex-girlfriend and sex tape partner for $20 million, accusing her of throwing him to the ground, TMZ reports.
In papers filed in federal court on Thursday, Verne Troyer, 39, accuses aspiring actress Ranae Shrider of intentional infliction of emotional distress and battery. Troyer says his ex-girlfriend once picked the lock to his bedroom, pushed away a scooter that was used to block the door and threw him to the ground.
Ed McPherson, a lawyer for Troyer, told TMZ that "when you pick up a 2 foot, 8 inch human being and throw him to the floor, it hurts."
But Holly Bannon, a rep for Shrider, called the lawsuit "ridiculous" in a statement to Usmagazine.com:
"This lawsuit is ridiculous and riddled with lie upon lie from Verne Troyer and his camp," Bannon said. "It is in our opinion a transparent attempt to secure as much publicity as he can from his less than average career in the wake of his most recent failure in 'The Love Guru.'
"The only abuse that ever occurred in their household was that of emotional abuse inflicted upon Ranae and her dog Lacy on the occasions when he hit Ranae and her dog with his 'reaching sticks' or kicked them when having one of his drunken rages.
"This alleged abuse certainly has not seemed to affect his recent round of interviews or his golf swing over the weekend. Is this not the same man who is renowned as a professional stuntman in all his movies?"
The suit comes after Shrider admitted she had leaked a clip of a sex tape she made with Troyer. (The actor settled a lawsuit he filed against a porn broker that will prevent distribution of the tape.)
Troyer recently told Us Weekly about the humiliation he experienced after the footage surfaced.
"I put all the trust in her," Troyer told Us. "She kept the tape in her camera on top of the closet where I couldn't even reach it!"
Asked how he feels about Shrider, he told Us: "Hate is a good word."
Troyer next stars in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" with Johnny Depp and Jude Law.
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