‘Charmed’ Drama: A Tearful Shannen Doherty Responds After Alyssa Milano Denies She Got Her Fired

An emotional Shannen Doherty has responded to Alyssa Milano‘s recent comments, in which she denied having anything to do with Doherty’s firing from Charmed in 2001.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Doherty and her former Charmed co-stars Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan addressed comments she made on her Let’s Be Clear podcast during a panel at the MegaCon Orlando event on Sunday, February 4.

“Holly and I, we were not mean on the podcast,” Doherty said, referring to a December episode of her podcast where she claimed Milano had a hand in her exit from the hit WB series. “In fact, we went in and we edited out anything that we felt would cause more drama.”

She continued, “We simply told the truth because the truth actually does matter. But we wanted to try to save you, the fans, from heartbreak as much as humanly possible.”

Doherty, who is battling stage 4 breast cancer, started to tear up as she said, “At this point in my life with my health diagnosis — I’m sorry if I start crying — with fighting horrific disease every day of my life, it is also incredibly important to me that the truth actually be told as opposed to the narrative that others put out there for me.”

She went on to say that she and Combs “told our truths and we are standing by our truths,” noting, “There is no revisionist history happening.”

Richard Cartwright /© The WB Television Network / Courtesy Everett Collection

The controversy stems from a December episode of Doherty’s Let’s Be Clear podcast, where she opened up about her departure from Charmed. Doherty originally starred as Prue, one of the three leads on the show, before being killed off after three seasons and replaced by McGowan.

Combs told Doherty that Charmed producer Jonathan Levin once informed her that Milano gave an ultimatum to producers.

“He said, you know, ‘We’re basically in a position where it’s one or the other. We were told [by Alyssa] that it’s [Shannen] or me, and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment,’” Combs claimed.

Milano recently denied these claims, saying she wished everyone could just move on. “I’m the most sad that a show that has meant so much to so many people has been tarnished by a toxicity that is still to this day, almost a quarter of a century later, still happening,” she said at MegaCon on February 2, per Variety. “And I’m sad that people can’t move past it. And I’m sad that we all can’t just celebrate the success of a show that meant so much to all of us.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa)

Related

Shannen Doherty Shares 'Miracle' Update in Her Breast Cancer Treatment

Following the MegaCon event, Milano took to her Instagram, where she wrote, “This was so long ago that any retelling of these stories from anyone is just revisionist history.”

“I will add, though, with absolute certainty—everything was documented. There was a professional mediator (I was told Holly and Shannen would not participate in any mediation) and an on-set producer/babysitter who were both brought in to investigate all claims. It was then recommended by this mediator, after collecting testimony from cast AND crew—what changes should be made if the show was going to continue.”

She continued, “The studio, Aaron Spelling, and network made the decision to protect the international hit that was Charmed. I did not have the power to get anyone fired. Once Shannen left we had 5 more successful seasons and I am forever grateful.”