Holly Marie Combs slams ‘Charmed’ producers for…
Holly Marie Combs is still devastated Shannen Doherty was fired from “Charmed.”
On the latest episode of the “Charmed” rewatch podcast, “The House of Halliwell,” Combs, 51, and Brian Krause mentioned the “Charmed” Season 3 finale, “All Hell Breaks Loose,” which aired in May 2001 and marked Doherty’s closing episode on the show. Doherty also directed the episode.
“Every fiber of of my being doesn’t want to get through this episode for just so many reasons,” Combs said through tears.
Holly Marie Combs at Fan Expo Philadelphia in May 2024. Ricky Fitchett/ZUMA Press Wire / SplashNews.com
Shannen Doherty attends Stand Up To Cancer 2016. FilmMagic
“There was just so many different ways it could have been handled,” the actress continued. “And the fact of the matter is it was handled so s–tily. It was such massive insult to injury to let her direct it and go out on this high note. Like, it’s just so sick and twisted. And it makes me f—ing angry.”
Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty, And Holly Marie Combs in “Charmed.” Getty Images
Doherty — who died of cancer in July 2024 at age 53 — starred in “Charmed” alongside her onscreen sisters Combs and Alyssa Milano before she was immediately fired by producers after three seasons. The WB fantasy sequence continued for 5 more seasons with Rose McGowan changing Doherty.
“God knows we’re not naming names of who it was or who said it, because everyone’s still so afraid to talk about it,” Combs said about Doherty’s exit. “It’s just so stupid.”
“There’s just so many ways it could have been handled,” Combs added, “and this may have been the exact worst way.”
Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano in Season 3 of “Charmed.” ©Viacom/Courtesy Everett Collect
Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs in a selfie. Fernando Lafuente
Combs recalled that she was “so blindsided” when Doherty was axed from the show, and claimed that producers told Doherty of their resolution over the telephone.
“They literally waited until everybody was gone on hiatus and made a phone call to her, and she called me,” Combs explained. “They didn’t even tell me. I had to find out from her. And they expected me to just go on with the show.”
Krause, who performed Leo Wyatt in the sequence, said that “nobody” noticed Doherty’s firing coming.
Holly Marie Combs, Brian Krause at Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia in June 2019. MEGA
“I think there’s several people who never want to be looked at as the bad guy, and they do whatever they can to protect their own image, and that means lying about the truth. And I think that’s what’s happening with quite a few people,” the 56-year-old actor said. “It’s a shame, because it does no one justice.”
“Nobody wants to speak their truth because they feel like they’ll be hated by the fandom, by the thing, by their former workers, by whatever it is,” Krause continued, as Combs added, “It’s Hollywood. It’s all so very Hollywood of them.”
Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, Rose McGowan in “Charmed.” ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Brian Krause in “Charmed.” The CW
Combs also revealed that showrunner Brad Kern wrote a letter to Doherty and apologized for her firing a couple of years later.
“She wouldn’t want us to skip this episode,” Combs also said on the rewatch podcast. “She would say, ‘I did a great job directing.’ She would say it was her favorite episode. I can hear her saying, ‘Don’t let them get to you like this.’ But they did. And it’s done.”
Holly Marie Combs and Shannen Doherty. Fernando Lafuente
Before Doherty’s death, Combs claimed that Milano, 52, obtained Doherty fired from the show, which Milano denied.
Doherty, for her half, addressed the subject during a MegaCon Orlando panel in Feb. 2024.
“What I will say is that what somebody else may call ‘drama’ is an actual trauma for me, that I have been living through it for an extremely long time,” the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star said at the time. “And it is only through my battle with cancer that I decided to address this trauma and be open and honest about it so that I can actually heal from a livelihood that was taken from me, a livelihood that was taken away from my family, because someone else wanted to be No. 1 on the call sheet. That is the truth.”
Holly Marie Combs, Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano in “Charmed.” ©Viacom/Courtesy Everett Collect
Shannen Doherty attends Hollywood Unites for the fifth Biennial Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) in Sept. 2016. WirePicture
Milano addressed the accusations during a separate “Charmed” MegaCon panel, telling followers she was “sad” that the show’s legacy “has been tarnished by a toxicity that is still to this day almost a quarter of a century later still happening.”
Alyssa Milano attends an event in Los Angeles in May 2024. Getty Images
When Doherty handed away, Milano told The Post: “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,” Milano continued. “My condolences to all who loved her.”
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