Doherty left the show after season 3 in connection to behind-the-scenes drama with Milano.
Shannen Doherty is receiving support from Charmed co-stars Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan amid her ongoing rift with Alyssa Milano.
On Tuesday, Combs, 50, used her Instagram account to offer up her side of the story when it comes to the battle between Doherty, 52, and Milano, 51, who played her on-screen sisters on the long-running WB television series.
"I feel the need to defend myself after the many continuing attacks that have ensued since Alyssa stepped out on the stage and essentially called Shannen and I liars when she was simply asked what it was like to work with Rose [McGowan]," Combs wrote.
The actress, who portrayed middle sister Piper Halliwell in the show, continued, "This is just the history [Milano] didn't want people to know about it. And the history Shannen wasn't ready to talk about until one month ago."
In December, Combs appeared as a guest on Doherty's podcast, Let's Be Clear, and alleged that Milano played a pivotal role in Doherty's firing from the hit series in the early 2000s. On Monday, Combs followed up by doubling down
"No one should have to lie about their own life for the comfort of another," the Picket Fences alum shared, stating that she found it "ironic" that Milano recently stated she did not "have the power to fire anyone" on the show, when really, "she had the power to stop the process at any time. She had the power to not talk to the mediator/therapist brought on to protect profits."
Combs wrote that Doherty had allegedly been asked by producers if she wanted Milano to be replaced, which she allegedly said no to, but claimed that Milano did not extend the same courtesy.
"And when producers said ok we will let Shannen go Alyssa also had the power to say no I don't want that. But she did not. She had the power to say no just as Shannen had said no I don't want you to replace Alyssa when posed with the same option," Combs alleged in her post. "Because she was a child actor who supported a family just as Alyssa does and understood the great importance and responsibility of that. Even now this pains me to write. It was heartbreaking then and still now."
Doherty and Combs have long been friends and it was that friendship, she shared, that guided her hope for "the girls to just get along for the sake of something bigger than all of [them] combined," but that "it was not in the cards. Clearly."
Despite the allegations that Milano played a major hand in Doherty's exit, Combs also used her post to speculate that the show's producers "knew it was easier" to manipulate the three stars when they were "divided as opposed to united."
"3 broken pieces were easier to manipulate than one united front. Which would have been more costly and cut into their precious profit margin," she claimed. "In the end, it all worked out as destiny would have it."
"Charmed was made for all of you and lastly the truth of the matter is we all are, despite our differences, incredibly grateful for this dysfunctional family in every way," she concluded the post.
Underneath her post, which she captioned "#LetsBeClear" and "#SorryNotSorry," McGowan -- who joined the show in season four as half sister Paige Matthews -- voiced her support as well.
"I love your big black heart and respect you, HMC. I love what the show has meant to people worldwide. Sometimes a mess has to be made for things to be cleaned up. This for me is way bigger than a tv show, it goes to years of continuous behind-the-scenes character assassination and targeted reputation smearing because of narcissistic pathological jealousy," McGowan wrote.
McGowan herself has had issues with Milano in the past, once using her social media channels to refer to her co-star as a "f**king fraud" in a series of since-deleted tweets. She alleged Milano "threw a fit in front of the crew, yelling, 'They don’t pay me enough to do this s**t!'" and that she "cried every time we got renewed because you made that set toxic AF."
"I wish none of it had to be this way. I remain proud of everyone involved for the magic we wove and the magic created worldwide. Truth is uncomfortable, but magic never dies ❤️," McGowan wrote on Tuesday.
The post from Combs comes after Milano denied last week that she was the reason that Doherty was fired from the show after season 3, which prompted the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum to respond tearfully onstage at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, opening up to the audience with Combs and McGowan by her side.
"A lot of things have been said and a lot of them are very hurtful," Doherty said onstage.
"The truth actually does matter, but we wanted to try to save you, the fans, from heartbreak as much as humanly possible," she said. "At this point in my life, with my health diagnosis..."
At this point, Doherty broke from her statement to apologize for her forthcoming tears. The 51-year-old star is currently battling stage 4 cancer.
"Sorry if I start crying," she said. "With fighting this horrific disease every day of my life, it is also incredibly important to me that the truth actually be told as opposed to the narrative that others have put out there for me."
"I recall the facts as if I were still living in them, and what I will say is that what somebody else may call drama is an actual trauma for me that I have lived with for an extremely long time," she continued. "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 away from me, a livelihood that was taken away from my family, because someone else wanted to be number one on the call sheet. That is the truth."
After pausing for applause from the audience, McGowan jumped in to add, "We protected you for a long time, we've done it as long as we could."
In 2021, Milano reflected on their complicated history while telling ET that she and Doherty were "cordial."
"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," she said. "And I have some guilt about my part in that."
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