If a friend or family member of yours is a Charmed fan, you may want to check on them, because I can guarantee you they’re going through it right now. Why? Well, because the people who belong to this magical fandom aren’t your run-of-the-mill fans. They live, breathe and bleed all things to do with this show and they’ve been holding out hope that a reunion will one day happen. But sadly, the dormant feud between Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano has been brought back to life like a demon returning from the Wasteland, and it looks like our hopes have been vanquished in the process.
ICYMI: Doherty discussed the decades-long feud during an episode of her freshly launched podcast Let’s Be Clear that featured co-star Holly Marie Combs (Piper).
We’ll discuss everything that went down in a moment, but for now, I’d just like to put my two cents in as someone who has viewed this show as a beacon of light and a place of refuge since the age of five (I know that sounds dramatic as hell, but true Charmed fans will get it).
It’s so heartbreaking to hear that the set of your favourite show was “toxic AF”, as Rose McGowan (Paige) once put it. It’s so heartbreaking to hear that a mediator had to be called as a result of said toxicity and that even that wasn’t enough to mend the rift between the cast. And it’s especially heartbreaking to hear that all these decades later, there’s still so much animosity between the cast that they couldn’t share a stage together at a convention.
Fans on social media have gone absolutely feral, with some taking Doherty’s side and some taking Milano’s. People want to demonise one of the ladies, but is it possible that there are no demons here, other than the ones on the show? It’s just four women who got caught up in the competitiveness of Hollywood and are still feeling the trauma all these years on, so taking sides feels both futile and vulture-y.
None of us witnessed what happened on that set so it’s not for us to decide who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong.
Back in 2020 when I interviewed Brian Krause (who plays Leo), I asked him about the on-set drama and here’s what he had to say: “I can just tell you that she was the hardest working person on the set. Yes, she could be terse and abrupt, but she wasn’t always wrong, I’ll tell you that.
“She had everybody’s back, she was part of the family, she was the family. And when she left, we all wondered how the show was gonna last, and it’s honestly a miracle that we did and kudos to Holly and Alyssa and Rose [McGowan] that we did, they kept it together. But I have nothing but love for Shannen Doherty.”
And here’s the kicker, he went on to say that the age-old rumours of Shannen’s behaviour on-set were largely the result of sexism from salty Hollywood men.
“Most of those comments come from guys, men in power with money who don’t like to be told what to do by a woman, especially a strong opinionated woman,” he said, adding: “She wasn’t always right, but she stood her ground.”
His praises for the ladies didn’t stop there as he also credited his co-stars with teaching him more about showbiz and work ethic than anyone he’d ever worked with in his career (certainly not the males).
“The three girls on the show taught me so much and I’ve done nothing but work with incredibly strong, famous, sexy, beautiful and smart women and not every guy in this industry can say that.”
“Shannen’s at the top of that list in terms of professionalism and making it happen and it’s incredible. I feel blessed to have been a part of it. I learned so much from them. How to come to work, how to be prepared, how to treat people. I didn’t learn that from random guy Bob or Tom, I learned it from the girls.”
Charmed behind-the-scenes drama
What happened between Charmed stars Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano?
It’s been no secret that the actresses who played Prue (Doherty) and Phoebe (Milano) did not get along during filming, which led to Doherty exiting the show after three seasons way back in 2001.
Since then, the actresses have insisted that Doherty left of her own accord and Milano had nothing to do with her firing.
But recently, Doherty launched her podcast Let’s Be Clear and in an episode with Holly Marie Combs, they admitted that the aforementioned narrative was false. They allege that Milano played a role in Doherty getting fired by giving producers an ultimatum: her or me.
Combs recounted that during a meeting with one of the Charmed execs about why Doherty was fired, he said: “‘We didn’t mean to [fire Shannen], 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.’”
Combs said the conversation went down when she tried to exit the show after Doherty was let go. She alleged that Milano built a case against both her and Doherty to help her argument for the firing, “documenting every time she felt uncomfortable on set.” Combs denied that there were any “brawls” or “harsh words” said between the actresses in public.
“It was all behind the scenes it was all in a trailer it was nothing that any of our crew noticed, that any of our guest stars ever noticed or noted,” she said.
Doherty added that no one “in their right mind would quit a hit show that is paying them a ton of money [and] that they enjoyed doing.”
Milano refuted these claims at a convention and on Instagram, denying that she was responsible for Doherty’s departure.
“This was so long ago that any retelling of these stories from anyone is just revisionist history,” she said.
“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.
“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.”
Shannen then fired back during a Charmed convention panel where she sat alongside Combs and McGowan.
“A lot of things have been said, and a lot of them very hurtful,” Doherty said
“Holly and I, we were not mean on the podcast, my podcast, Let’s Be Clear. In fact, we went in and we edited out anything that we felt would cause more drama. 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 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 added.
“We told it together, we told our truths and we are standing by our truths. There is no revisionist history happening in the truth that I know we told. There is no brush flinging or shoe flinging. There is no lateness to set, there is no mediator for months on end. I recall the facts as if I was still living in them.”
At that point, Rose McGowan interjected: “We’ve protected you [the show’s fans] for a long time. We’ve done it for as long as we could. All of us.”
She then quoted controversial comedian Katt Williams: “He has a wonderful saying, ‘Winners do not let losers rewrite history.’”
Combs has since added more via Instagram, writing that she’s “disappointed” by Milano’s statement.
So where does this leave the Charmed universe? Well, we can only hope that now that the cast has gotten everything off their chest, all there is to do from here is heal… where are those Whitelighters when ya need ’em?
