The ongoing feud between former Charmed costars is getting even more complicated, as Shannen Doherty speaks out against Alyssa Milano. The hit TV show premiered in 1998 and was about three sisters (Alyssa as Phoebe, Shannen as Prue, Holly Marie Combs as Piper) who discovered that they were witches.
A fourth half-sister (Rose McGowan as Paige) was also later introduced into the show. The show ran for eight seasons. Shannen's character was killed off in the season three finale, which she blames on Alyssa for getting her fired from the show.
In December 2023, Shannen spoke on an episode of her Let's Be Clear With Shannen Doherty podcast alongside her former costar Holly, revealing that it was against her own will that she left the show. “The narrative that I ‘quit’ was assigned to me by other people,” she said. “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. I loved going to that job. I loved the people that I worked with.”
She went on to say that she was fired after Alyssa threatened production with a lawsuit if they didn't kick Shannen off the show. The Little Italy actress has denied any part in Shannen leaving the show.
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At MegaCon Orlando on February 2, 2024, Alyssa sat on a panel and spoke about the drama. She also followed up the event with an Instagram post of the transcript from the panel, and further detailing her thoughts in the caption. "I did not have the power to get anyone fired," she said.
"I knew this was going to come up in one way or another, and I want to be very thoughtful in how I respond to any of this, and I will just say that I'm sad," the transcript read, in part. "I'm the most sad for the fans. I am 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."
On February 4, 2024, Shannen addressed Alyssa's denial, alongside Holly and Rose, at MegaCon Orlando. “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 said.
She went on to add that she and Holly were not mean toward Alyssa on her podcast episode, and even went in to edit out anything that could cause more drama. "We simply told the truth because the truth actually does matter," she stated. “There is no revisionist history happening.”
"I recall the facts as if I were still living in them," Shannen continued. "And what I will say is what somebody else may call drama is an actual trauma for me that I have lived with for an extremely long time, and it is only through my battle with cancer that I decided to address this trauma and be open and honest about it so I can actually heal from a livelihood that was taken away from me, a livelihood that was taken away from my family because someone else wanted to be No. 1 on the call sheet. That is the truth."
Rose jumped in after comforting her friend with one final thing to say. "We've protected you for a long time," she said as she spoke to the fans. "We've done it for as long as we could, um, both of us, all of us. And there's a great great comedian named Katt Williams who has a wonderful wonderful saying: Winners do not let losers rewrite history."
