Babylon 5 hunk Bruce Boxleitner, coping with co-star Claudia Christian's recent departure from the series, lashed into top TV stars for abusing their status and suggested pampered actors like David Caruso "need a really good ass-kicking." In a candid interview, the actor, who plays Capt. John Sheridan on the cult sci-fi series, told Daily Dish he felt betrayed by Christian. "I've followed Claudia and her comments that she left the show because she was fired," he said. "I was there, and she was not fired. We were all given a favored-nations contract, which meant every cast member got the same deal, and Claudia turned it down. If I sound a little bitter, it's because we were close. It seems she was bailing out when the show was finally bearing fruit." Boxleitner, however, is convinced the TNT series will not suffer from Christian's absence in the coming season. "I replaced an actor on Babylon 5, and this show survived many other cast changes. No actor isn't replaceable. Just ask David Caruso." The mention of Caruso, who bolted from NYPD Blue at the height of his TV stardom for a movie career that sagged, reminded Boxleitner of James Arness, who starred on Gunsmoke for an unprecedented 21 seasons. "They could learn [from Arness] how one treats the office of a star of a TV series," said Boxleitner, who co-starred with Arness in the ABC series How the West Was Won. "The David Carusos and these people really need a good ass-kicking. I'd tell Caruso that to his face. These guys are a bunch of jerks. Pampered little idiots. I use Caruso as an example because here he is, back again, and I hear it's already a living hell. To me, Claudia made a mistake, but I wish her luck." -- Craig Modderno