Reuters reports that Liza Minnelli and her husband, producer David Gest, have filed suit in New York state court against VH1 and MTV Networks, units of Viacom Inc., as well as Viacom itself, seeking more than $10 million in damages for VH1's October cancellation of their "Liza & David" reality TV show.

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The high-profile couple said that VH1 breached their contract to do the show and that an anonymous Viacom employee defamed Gest in an interview. A spokeswoman for VH1 and MTV Networks declined to comment. A Viacom spokesman was not immediately available for comment. According to the suit, Gest and Minnelli agreed to make 10 one-hour episodes for up to four seasons. The suit said The couple were paid $100,000 on July 18, as an advance on a $1.25 million fee for the first season and that production began Oct. 1 with producers shooting more than 60 hours of footage.

The suit asks for $1.15 million in damages related to the unfinished production of the show, and damages of up to $12 million for the alleged defamation of Gest in the Post. In a statement in October, the network, in explaining why the show was canceled, said "we were not given the cooperation and access that we were promised."

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