How to pass a var to a custom CellRenderer class?

programming flash
1

I have a combobox that I need to style with colors from xml. I call this XML file in the same class that has my combobox instance and break out the color I need to a var.

I then use MyCellRenderer (a class that extends CellRenderer) to style the drop down list items like so:

myComboBox.dropdown.setStyle('cellRenderer', MyCellRenderer );

This all works perfectly with a hardcoded color already inside the MyCellRenderer class.

My problem is when I instantiate MyCellRenderer and try to pass the color through I get the following error when I click the combobox open:

ArgumentError: Error #2025: The supplied DisplayObject must be a child of the caller.
    at flash.display::DisplayObjectContainer/removeChild()
    at fl.controls::List/drawList()
    at fl.controls::List/draw()
    at fl.core::UIComponent/callLaterDispatcher()

Is it possible to instantiate a class that extends CellRenderer? If not why not?

And the big one… how can I pass a variable to my custom CellRenderer class?

Thanks!
Mary