Curse of 'Charmed': How Witchcraft Drama Is Haunted by String of Co-Stars' Furious Feuds and Shannen Doherty Tragedy

Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs' friendship started after their first meeting in the 1980s. They grew closer to each other when they began working together on different shows.

Unfortunately, their bond later made Alyssa Milano feel like an outcast when she worked with them.

In 1990, Doherty scored the role of Brenda Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210. At the time, she developed a feud with Jennie Garth, though they ended their misunderstandings years later. There were also reports about her getting involved in clashes and fights with the other cast members on the set of the show.

Things ended when Doherty left the show in 1994. In her interview with Entertainment Weekly, Doherty admitted to having a time when she did not want to be on the series anymore.

The late actress confessed: “I was unhappy. It sounds odd to say that I was on a hit show making a lot of money and I was unhappy, because it makes me sound unappreciative — I wasn’t.

"It’s just that the sacrifice at the time seemed too large to me. The sacrifice of a camera pointed in my face 24 hours a day while I was desperately trying to grow up, to figure out my spirituality, to figure out my boyfriends. I mean, I was a teenager.”

Doherty and Combs were cast to play the roles of Prue Halliwell and Piper, respectively, on Charmed in 1998.

In December 2023, Doherty shared she had doubts about working with Aaron Spelling again after "getting burned badly" on Beverly Hills, 90210.

She said: "I was probably carrying around a lot of resentment and anger still."

Meanwhile, Milano gushed about her friendship with Doherty and Combs in a 1999 interview — long before they began fighting.

Milano said: “We all have horses so we all have things that are in common. Holly and I keep our horses at the same ranch so we go riding all the time together and we're very similar and, um, very close — we're blessed in that way. It's like a big slumber party every day. We giggle a lot."

At the end of Charmed's Season 3, Doherty announced her exit and shared her dissatisfaction about the show afterward.

Doherty told Entertainment Tonight: “I want to work with actors who really, really care and who want to be there every single day. I don't want to work with people who b----- about their job and complain about it and say that they hate it or anything else."

Other reports claimed she and Milano were not getting along.

Speaking on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2013, Milano commented on Doherty's departure and said she did not know if her costar got fired.

She disclosed: "I can tell you that we were on the air with her for three years and there were definitely some rough days."

In between Milano and Doherty's yearslong feud, the 51-year-old Who's the Boss? alum ignited a dispute with another costar — Rose McGowan. The latter said in a 2017 tweet amid the #MeToo movement that Milano made her want to vomit because of her support for Harvey Weinstein's then-wife, Georgina Chapman.

McGowan accused the infamous film producer of rape.

In 2018, McGowan was wary of Milano's advocacy. She also referenced Milano's husband, Dave Bugliari, a former agent for the Creative Artists Agency, after telling JuJu Chang on Nightline she did not like the Melrose Place alum.

She said of Bugliari: “Do you think I don’t know these people? Do the math.

"Who’s behind Time’s Up? CAA. Where do they meet? CAA? Who needs good PR? CAA. Who are part of the pimp problem? CAA.”

In 2020, Milano renewed her feud with McGowan by posting a thread on X in response to the latter's comment after the Democratic National Convention.

The 50-year-old activist wrote: “What have the Democrats done to solve ANYTHING? Help the poor? No. Help Black & brown people? No. Stop police brutality? No. Help single mothers? No. Help children? No. You have achieved nothing. NOTHING. Why did people vote [Donald] Trump? Because of you m------------.

Milano began her response by listing the things the Democratic Party did "to make the world a better place" before slamming McGowan by writing: "Rose and anyone bleating the same 'dEmOcRaTs DoNt HeLp PeOpLe' nonsense, your lies are going to hurt people less privileged than you. It’s the kind of thing an ACTUAL fraud would do. Thousands of people are dying a day but you go on with your hyperbolic attention seeking tweets."

After years of exchanging jabs, Milano commented on her and Doherty's tension in her interview with Entertainment Tonight. When asked if they were on good terms, she said they were "cordial."

She added: "I could take responsibility for a lot of our tension that we had.

"I think a lot of our struggle came from feeling that I was in competition rather than it being that sisterhood that the show was so much about. And I have some guilt about my part in that."

Doherty and Milano's rift extended as the Heathers star battled cancer.

In a 2023 episode of Let's Be Clear with Shannen Doherty podcast, Combs claimed Milano got the Father Murphy actress fired from the show. She also recalled a meeting she had with producer Jonathan Levin.

Combs said: “He said, ‘We didn’t mean to, but we’ve been backed into this corner. We’re basically in this position where it’s one or the other. We were told it’s her or [Doherty], and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment."

Milano responded to the buzz in a lengthy Instagram post in February after addressing the rumors at the Who's the Boss? panel at MegaCon Orlando, Fla.

Milano wrote: "I did not have the power to get anyone fired. Once Shannen left we had 5 more successful seasons and I am forever grateful."

However, Doherty firmly stood by her claims while also receiving support from McGowan and Combs, who believed Milano indeed had "the power" to "stop the process at any time."

After Doherty died of cancer on July 13, Milano released a statement to pay tribute to her late costar and acknowledge their past tension.

Milano said: "It's no secret that Shannen and I had a complicated relationship, but at its core was someone I deeply respected and was in awe of.

"She was a talented actress, beloved by many, and the world is less without her. My condolences to all who loved her."

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