More than 20 years after she was fired from Charmed, Shannen Doherty reveals what led to her departure from the hit supernatural series.
During her recent Let’s Be Clear podcast episode, Doherty spoke to her former co-star Holly Marie Comb about what really caused her sudden departure from Charmed. “The narrative that I ‘quit’ was assigned to me by other people,” Doherty explained. “I didn’t assign it to myself. I think I’m at that point in my life where I don’t want to keep lying about it, and I don’t want to keep lying about something that meant the absolute world to me, something that I loved doing.”
Shannen Doherty also pointed out that she loved going to Charmed. She said she loved the people she worked with on the production. However, She admitted fellow star on the show, Alyssa Milano, ended up being the key reason why she was fired. Doherty stated that Milano threatened the production with a lawsuit if she wasn’t removed from the show.
“I remember them looking at me at the time,” Doherty said about meeting with her reps. They then discuss the “quit” narrative. “And said, ‘No, no, no, your career won’t survive another firing [after the Beverly Hills, 90210 exit], so we’re just going to say that you chose to leave.’”
‘Charmed’ Co-Star Holly Marie Combs Confirms Who Was Responsible for Shannen Doherty’s Firing
Meanwhile, Charmed co-star Holly Marie Combs confirmed Alyssa Milano did threaten a lawsuit if Shannen Doherty wasn’t fired.
“[Producer Jonathan Levin said], ‘We were told that it’s her or me. Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment.’” Combs explained. “Because [Milano] went to the therapist or the mediator or the corporate mediator, whatever the heck his title is, she built a case for herself where she was documenting every time she felt uncomfortable on set.”
Although Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs refused to speak to the mediator, the “deck” was stacked. Combs declared that Milano’s legal action threats wouldn’t fly these days. “There were no on-set brawls, there were not even harsh words exchanged. It was all behind the scenes. It was nothing that any of our co-stars or anyone [on set] noticed.”
Shannen Doherty then said didn’t ever remember being mean to Milano on the set. “I remember an episode that I directed where she did something on the Christmas break,” she recalled. “And they asked me to work around something things with her. And I couldn’t have been more kind and understanding.”
Doherty’s Charmed character was killed after three seasons on the show. She was then replaced by Rose McGowan, who stayed on the series until the eighth and final season.