Former “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Diane Neal has stirred controversy with shocking allegations against her co-stars, notably calling Mariska Hargitay a “total bitch” and describing her colleagues as “awful people,” according to court documents.
Neal, who portrayed Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak on the NBC crime drama, reportedly made these comments to her former campaign manager, Rachael Himsel. Himsel documented the remarks in an email, now part of a lawsuit filed by Neal’s ex-boyfriend, magician JB Benn. Benn is countering Neal’s accusations of physical and sexual abuse with this evidence.
However, Neal vehemently denied these claims in a statement to Page Six: “There is no truth to this at all. Most of the people I’ve worked with are amazing; I love almost everyone I’ve ever worked with.” Addressing her relationship with Hargitay, Neal said, “Mariska and I were not the closest, but that doesn’t mean we have any animosity towards each other. She’s a great mom, she’s great as Benson, she’s doing great charity work. I have never talked about the cast members like this, it’s salacious and untrue.”
The court documents reveal a darker side of Neal’s relationship with Benn. Benn claims he recorded Neal threatening to shoot him and harm their dog, Charlie, on November 7, 2017. He stated that he recorded their interactions because he feared Neal would eventually blame him for any problems in their relationship.
In one of the recordings, Neal allegedly said, “I am going to kill you or I am going to sue the f–k out of you. I am going to make your life as miserable as you have made mine… I am going to kill your dog in front of you. Charlie, I’m going to kill you.”
In another incident in March 2018, Benn alleges that Neal yelled, “You are the least fun person I have ever met… Which is why I am going to punish you with death and kill your f–king dog.”
These revelations come amidst Neal’s own lawsuit against Benn, where she accuses him of swindling her out of millions and subjecting her to physical and emotional abuse. Neal and Benn, who met at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s annual Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest fundraiser in December 2013, ended their relationship last year. Neal claims Benn pushed her out of a home she partially paid for, a charge Benn denies.
Neal’s former campaign manager, Himsel, expressed concerns for Neal’s mental health in an exhibit filed with the court. Himsel stated, “Ms. Neal used Mr. Benn as an emotional punching bag. She called JB a retard. Repeatedly. She told him ‘I’m gonna kill you!’ repeatedly… I also learned that all of her co-stars on ‘Law & Order’ were ‘awful people’ — except Ice-T — and Mariska Hargitay was a total bitch.”
Neal responded by saying she fired Himsel after only two weeks. She also addressed the allegations against Benn, saying she first reported the abuse to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department and Ulster County district attorney last year. “He has taken almost all of my work, my friends, my money… no more,” Neal said, describing the abuse she endured. “It breaks my heart to listen to the audiotape. It’s not nice, it’s not kind, it’s not rational — but the day that tape was made, I had been abused all day.”
Neal is now focusing on returning to her acting career. NBC has not commented on the situation.
