More than 20 years after former “Charmed” star Shannen Doherty was killed off The WB series following behind-the-scenes drama with fellow lead Alyssa Milano, Milano is admitting to causing “a lot” of the on-set tension that led to Doherty’s exit.
“I would say we are cordial,” Milano told Entertainment Tonight in a Tuesday interview. “You know, 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 starred alongside Holly Marie Combs on The WB’s “Charmed” as three sister witches, Prue, Phoebe and Piper Halliwell. While Combs and Milano were leads on the series throughout its entire eight-season run from 1998-2006, Doherty exited after the Season 3 finale in 2001 following ongoing behind-the-scenes battles with Milano and producers. She was replaced in Season 4 with Rose McGowan, who was cast as Paige Matthews, the Halliwell’s long-lost half-sister witch.
Milano’s “guilt” over her conflicts with Doherty didn’t keep her from reaching out to her former co-star when Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
“When I heard about her diagnosis, I reached out to her,” Milano told Entertainment Tonight. “And I will send her DMs every couple of months to just check in.”
The “Insatiable” alum says she has “respect” for the “Beverly Hills, 90210” vet: “Great actress, loves her family so much, and I just wish I could’ve felt strong enough in who I was to recognize that back then.”
Doherty isn’t the only “Charmed” star who Milano has had trouble with, as she and McGowan had a public social-media spat in August of last year over their own “Charmed” drama, with McGowan leveling accusations against Milano for her behavior on set toward McGowan.
McGowan tweeted that Milano made $250,000 per week on their WB series “Charmed,” which ended in 2006, and “threw a fit in front of the crew, yelling, ‘They don’t pay me enough to do this s—!’” The actress called Milano’s behavior “appalling” said she “cried every time we got renewed because you made that set toxic AF,” adding: “Now, get off my coattails you f—ing fraud.”