Holly Marie Combs is spilling the real tea on Shannen Doherty’s exit from Charmed.
Holly and Shannen starred together as Piper and Prue, the eldest of the Halliwell sisters, in the first three seasons of the hit show. Alyssa Milano played the third sister, Phoebe, comparing the series’ original trio.
In the season three finale, Shannen’s character was killed off.
Over the years, there have been persistent rumors of tensions between Shannen and Alyssa. On Shannen’s new podcast, iHeart’s Let’s Be Clear, Holly and Shannen revealed how Alyssa got Shannen fired from Charmed.
Holly shared on the podcast that she and Shannen did not want to do the show without each other. However, she said that executive producer Jonathan Levin told her that they were “backed into this corner” about Alyssa wanting Shannen out. Holly said:
“He said, ‘We didn’t mean to,’ and he said, ‘but we’ve been backed into this corner.’ He said, ‘You know, we’re basically in a position where it’s one or the other. We were told that it’s her or me, and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile work environment.’”
She continued that Alyssa had gone to the on-set therapist or mediator, and she “built a case for herself where she was documenting every time she let uncomfortable on set, and for whatever reason.
Whereas you and I refused to speak to him. So, that’s where the deck was stacked.”
She recalled that no on-set brawls happened nor were harsh words exchanged, noting that all of the alleged instances took place behind the scenes, in a trailer, outside of prying eyes.
Shannen, on her part, looked back and shared how she has replayed “everything” to try and find moments where something happened:\
“I don’t ever remember being mean to her on set. I actually remember an episode that I directed where she did something on the Christmas break and they asked me to work around some things with her and I had no problem with it. I couldn’t have been more kind and understanding.”
She added that she had thought about suing over part of her contract that would still allow her to get paid but that her reps at the time advised her against it, saying that she should just say she left the show. The reps said that doing otherwise would kill her career. But looking back, she now wishes “that I had been older and wiser because I definitely would have sued and I would have been honest about the situation, because the rumors followed me regardless… I was made out to… it makes you look crazy when you leave a hit show only after three seasons.”
She admits now that she still has not forgiven or forgotten what went down, Shannen said:
“As you get older, you accept that a situation happened. Acceptance and moving on with your life does not equate to forgiveness. You just learn a lesson and look at somebody differently and move on.”
Back in 2020, former Charmed star Rose McGowan, who replaced Shannen as the third Halloween sister in a new role, stated that Alyssa made the set “toxic AF.”
