Alyssa Milano Allegedly Gave ‘Her or Me’ Ultimatum That Got Shannen Doherty Fired From Charmed

Andy Swift

19 December 2023 at 1:15 pm·3-min read

Shannen Doherty is setting the record straight about her infamous firing (yes, she was fired) from The WB’s Charmed. The Dec. 18 episode of Doherty’s Let’s Be Clear podcast features the second half of her interview with sister witch Holly Marie Combs, during which they recall the “her or me” situation with Alyssa Milano that ultimately led to Doherty’s untimely exit in 2001.

“I just want to make sure everyone knows that there’s zero hate here,” Doherty begins. “The past is definitely done and over with, and it’s not even like we really talk about this at all. This is coming up because it’s a question I get asked on an absolute regular basis. Every single fan I’ve run into on the street asks me the same question: Why did you quit?”

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Doherty says that her quitting the show was “one of the biggest myths out there.” As she had previously mentioned in Part 1 of the interview, Doherty notes again that she was the highest paid of the three original actresses “because I was the one the network hired and greenlit the show based around,” and she now believes that was the beginning of her “rift” with Milano.

Combs recalls an intense meeting she had with producer Jonathan Levin, shortly after she learned that actresses were being sought out to replace Doherty. (Rose McGowan was eventually cast as long-lost fourth sister Paige.)

As Combs tells it, “I said, ‘Why would you hire her again [after 90210] just to fire her?’ And he said, ‘We didn’t mean to. We’ve been backed into this corner. We’re basically in a position where it’s one or the other. We were told that it’s her or me. Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment.”

Photos: Charmed’s Most Famous Guest Stars

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She explains that Milano went to the “corporate mediator” to build a case for herself. She had documented “every time she felt uncomfortable on set for some reason,” whereas Combs and Doherty “refused” to speak with the mediator. “So what’s where the deck was stacked.” The behavior that Milano allegedly experienced is also a sore spot with Combs, who doesn’t believe that the same outcome would have occurred if the situation had unfolded in 2023.

“There were no on-set brawls, there were no harsh words exchanged,” she says. “It was all behind the scenes, it was all in a trailer, it was nothing that anybody or any of our guest stars ever noticed or noted. … By today’s standards, it wouldn’t f–king fly. … There are men that abuse people, throw things, have screaming fits and get away with it. People don’t understand that that never happened here. Unless you were there, no one understands that.”

Combs adds that the whole situation was made even more complicated by personal dynamics. Not only was Milano dating Brian Krause, who played Combs’ on-screen husband, but Doherty was also dating Julian McMahon, who played Milano’s love interest. Combs says that Krause recently apologized at a fan convention, noting how difficult it must have been for her to navigate those waters.

“I wish I had been older and wiser, because I definitely would have sued, and I would have been honest about the situation,” Doherty says. “The rumors followed me regardless. The rumors were there and I wasn’t getting paid. It makes you look crazy when you leave a hit show only after three seasons.”

Now, for the final question: Does Doherty forgive those who wronged her in this process? “I think there’s acceptance, but acceptance and moving on with your life doesn’t equate to forgiveness,” she says. “You just learn a lesson, look at somebody differently and move on.”

TVLine has reached out to Milano’s reps for comment.

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