Teri Hatcher being sued by skin care company for $2.4m

Teri Hatcher is being sued by a cosmetics giant for allegedly endorsing a rival company's product.

The Desperate Housewives star is believed to have broken her contract with skin care company Hydroderm by advertising City Cosmetics product, 'Lip Plumper.'

Hydroderm, who paid Hatcher $2.4 million to be the face of their campaign in 2005, claim they inserted an anti-competition clause into the contract to stop Hatcher working for a rival company.

Despite the clause, Hatcher is said to have endorsed the City Cosmetics product before and after the Hydroderm agreement, including posing for pictures with the 'Lip Plumper,' and identifying herself as a fan.

The lawsuit states the City Cosmetics product is in "direct competition" with Hydroderm's lip enhancer.

In a statement, Hatcher's attorney Alan Wertheimer called the suit an "unjustified and public assault on Teri Hatcher's good name, reputation and celebrity in a transparent and pathetic effort to distract from its own failure to live up to its end of the agreement."

Wertheimer also said that Hatcher fulfilled all of her contractual obligations, despite changes in ownership and management at Hydroderm.

He added: "Hatcher will recover everything she is owed under her contract, as well as compensatory and punitive damages for Hydroderm's outrageous accusations."

Hatcher, 42, is one of the highest paid television actresses in the United States. She reportedly earns $285,000 per episode starring in the popular drama Desperate Housewives.