Holly Marie Combs revisits cast tensions on ‘Charmed’
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
(CNN) — Life wasn’t so “Charmed,” it seems, on the set of that popular series.
On a new episode of her podcast “Let’s Be Clear,” Shannen Doherty featured part two of her conversartion with her former “Charmed” costar Holly Marie Combs.
As with part one, their costar Alyssa Milano figured prominently.
The three starred as a trio of sisters who played witches on the CW series that debuted in 1998.
Combs said that in the early 2000s, she had a conversation with one of the show’s producers about why Doherty would no longer be on the show, starring as Prue Halliwell.
“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,’” Combs told Doherty during the podcast. “‘We were told [by Milano] it’s her or [Doherty] and Alyssa has threatened to sue us for a hostile workplace environment.’”
Both Combs and Doherty denied recalling any instances of bad behavior toward Milano on set.
“I lived a year after that sort of replaying everything in my brain and really trying to find those moments,” Doherty said. “I don’t ever remember being mean to her on set.”
Doherty, who is battling cancer, said it’s all had an affect on her over the years.
“As you get older, you accept that a situation happened. Acceptance and moving on with your life does not equate to forgiveness,” she said. “You just learn a lesson and look at somebody differently and move on.”
CNN has reached out to representatives for Combs, Doherty and Milano for comment.
Milano has previously described a different approach to their work on “Charmed” between her and Doherty.
“I think it’s hard when you put two very different people together,” she told Entertainment Weekly after Doherty left the show in 2001. “I’m very laid-back and passive. I have my Buddha. I come in here and meditate. [Dohertys] got a lot of energy, she’s very headstrong, she wants to get the job done.”
Milano told Andy Cohen in 2013 they had some “rough days” on set, comparing it to high school, but said she was unclear what led to Doherty’s departure from the show.
“We never really found out what happened,” she said.
In the first part of the podcast, Doherty alleged that Milano and her family contributed to “a weird divide” between her and Combs, which continued throughout the second season of the show, Doherty said.
“I think I cried every single night,” she said.
The-CNN-Wire
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