Denise Richards Defends Herself

By: Shannon Gossage

Richards was labeled a backstabber when pictures of her and ex-best friend Heather Locklear’s husband, Richie Sambora, looking more than friendly were published. Now Richards is claiming her relationship with Locklear was over way before she began a relationship with Sambora. Richard also claims that she had hoped to keep her private life just that…private. Richards said in a recent interview, "This is one of the hardest times in my life. I have done my best to try and keep this private. I have no interest in speaking publicly about my marriage. It’s unfortunate that the court documents became public. This is not what I wanted. My priority all along has been to focus on my children and their well-being."

A friend of Richards recently said of Locklear, "Heather wants to create a bunch of lied. It’s ridiculous." Another source close with Locklear and Richards said, "It makes Melrose Place look like Disneyland." The source also claims that Locklear is trying to get the neighbors to side with her and turn against Richards. It has been rumored that Richards and Locklear’s relationship started to sour due to Locklear’s penchant for heavy partying. According to a friend, "Heather wants to go out and Denise wants to stay in with her kids, and that was the start of the friction."

Another sore spot between the two is that Locklear is using the same divorce attorney as Sheen. Reportedly Richards was upset by this. A friend of Richards said, "Heather has a very similar personality to Charlie. They are both extremely vindictive." Richards claims she is trying to keep her private life out of the media attention, yet she has fired her publicists and divorce lawyer reportedly after neither were willing to play out the divorce in the press so she hired a new publicist and lawyer. Doesn’t seem like she really wants to keep this thing under wraps now does it?