Nicole Kidman Slams Reports Knee Injury Threatened Her Career  5/30/05

Nicole Kidman has furiously slammed reports a knee injury sustained in 2000 almost ended her movie career, because it made her insurance too high for film bosses to cover. The Hollywood beauty damaged her right knee while filming movie musical Moulin Rouge! and was forced to delay the film while she recovered, causing two claims for the postponements and a staggering $3 million  insurance loss, according to movie industry guru Edward J. Epstein. 

Epstein also alleges on website Slate that the Australian actress cost insurers an additional $7 million the following year (01) when her recurring injury forced her to quit thriller Panic Room, after three weeks of shooting. And he has infuriated Kidman by reporting her growing claims made her too expensive to insure for 2003 movie Cold Mountain, which meant she had to put a significant amount of money into an escrow account, which would cover her insurance if she caused any further postponements. 

But the 37-year-old star has denied the claims she put money into an escrow account, and insists her injury only affected a small number of films. Epstein tells website Page Six, "Kidman had to put a substantial amount of her salary in an escrow account, which would go to the insurer if she caused any delay, and she agreed to wear a support bandage." Kidman's representative Catherine Olim counters, "She has never had to put her salary in escrow. That's not true. Nor does that (knee) problem even exist anymore. It hasn't been an issue on the last several films."