In a feud that has now comfortably eclipsed, in lifespan, not just the original Charmed series, but a whole other one that came and went in the two decades and change since the drama all went down, the original cast members of the supernatural series Charmed are still at war with each other. Alyssa Milano fired off the latest salvo this week, responding to recent accusations levied against her by former (like, 26 years former) castmates Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs, calling them, accurately, “sad.”
Milano was responding to a recent podcast conversation between Doherty and Combs, in which the latter lent credence to Doherty’s long-held accusations that Milano got her fired from the WB series, which she departed in its third-season finale. Speaking on Doherty’s podcast Let’s Be Clear, Combs said a producer on the show told her “We were told [by Alyssa] it’s her or [Shannen] and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment.” Rose McGowan was ultimately brought on to replace Doherty/take up her own place in the endless cycles of Charmed drama.
Glossing over the fact that none of these people have been on Charmed since the George W. Bush administration, which you’d think might quiet some ire, Milano addressed (but, as Deadline notes, did not deny) these claims during a recent panel appearance, stating that, “I’m sad.”
I don’t think it’s really that I’m sad for me or my life or how it does or does not affect my life.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. I’m sad that people can’t move past it. I’m sad that we all can’t just celebrate the success of a show that meant so much to all of us. I have worked super hard in my life in the last 25 years to heal all of my trauma, and that’s not just all the trauma that I experienced while shooting but all of my trauma. I’ve worked really hard to heal the bits because I understand that hurt people hurt people and my intention is to be a healed person that helps heal people.
Anyway, we’re now formally excited for the 2050 installment of Ryan Murphytron’s Feud, which will finally get to the bottom of all this once and for all.