Alyssa Milano is remembering Shannen Doherty following news of her death over the weekend after a long battle with cancer.
While the working relationship between the two co-stars on the set of the fantasy drama series Charmed was fraught with tensions due to their alleged feud, Milano, 51, chose to acknowledge the late actor by paying genuine tribute.
Milano told People magazine in an official statement:
"It’s no secret that Shannen and I had a complicated relationship, but at its core was someone I deeply respected and was in awe of."
She continued:
“She was a talented actress, beloved by many, and the world is less without her. My condolences to all who loved her.”
Fans joined Milano in honoring Doherty.
Charmed centered on three sisters known as the "Charmed Ones" who used their good powers to protect innocent lives from evil. The show premiered in 1998 with Doherty as Prue, Milano as Phoebe, and Holly Marie Combs as Piper.
Doherty was replaced by actor Rose McGowan, who joined the cast from season 4 through the final 8th season as Paige, the youngest half-sister.
Combs was a guest on a December 2023 episode of the Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Dohertypodcast, where Doherty cleared the air about her firing from the show's third season after her character was killed off by a powerful demonic assassin.
She recalled at the time her reps advised her to tell the public she chose to leave the show as her reputation wouldn't have survived news of another firing.
Said Doherty:
"I remember I started laughing, going, 'Who is going to believe that I’m crazy enough to leave a hit show?'”
The narrative that I quit was assigned to me by other people ... I didn't assign it to myself."
Later in the podcast, Combs recalled a conversation with the show's producer, Jonathan Levin, allegedly telling her that Milano cited a toxic work environment and threatened to sue if Doherty wasn't fired from the show.
According to Combs, Levin explained to her:
"'We didn't mean to, but we've been backed into this corner—we're basically in this position where it's one or the other. We were told [by Alyssa] it's her or [Shannen], and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment.' "
Some fans couldn't help but note the inherent hypocrisy in Milano's statement regarding Doherty's passing.
Combs also noted in the podcast how there weren't any directors at the time who didn't want to work with Doherty, nor were there any crew members who didn't have a great time working with her.
In February 2024 in response to Combs and Doherty's conversation on the podcast, Milano claimed in an Instagram post that the decision "to protect the international hit that was 'Charmed' " fell to the studio, the WB network, and late TV producer Aaron Spelling.
She added that she did not have the power to get anyone fired.
Doherty responded to Milano's denial at a MegaCon Orlando, standing by her assertion and telling the gathered fans that "a lot of things have been said and a lot have been very hurtful."
She told fans that she and Combs were "not mean" on the podcast and that:
“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 was then being treated for stage 4 breast cancer that had spread to her bones.
She first disclosed her diagnosis in 2015, and began the Let's Be Clear podcast in 2023, six months after she shared that the cancer had spread to her brain.
Doherty died Sunday at age 53.
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