Shannen Doherty Explains Why She Was Fired From 'Beverly Hills, 90210'
Shannen Doherty opened up about the events that led to her being fired Beverly Hills, 90210.
“I definitely went through a lot of growing pains on that show,” Doherty, 52, said on her Monday, January 22, episode. “Let's be clear with Shannen Doherty” podcast, in a conversation with costar Jason Priestley. “Over there [were] beautiful moments for me and very difficult moments for me.”
Doherty starred in the first four seasons of the hit Fox series from 1990 to 1994 before abruptly leaving. At the beginning of season 5, fans learned that Brenda had decided to attend acting school in England and that Doherty had been written off the show. Brenda was the twin sister of Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh.
Doherty explained that she was in a “really horrible marriage” at the time, and that “things happened in that marriage that made it very difficult for her.” [her] to consistently be at work on time.” (Doherty married Ashley Hamilton in October 1993 and filed for divorce in April 1994.)
She acknowledged that it “became a really big deal” for her co-stars because they would have to wait for her and end up working longer hours.
“It was nobody's responsibility but mine, but I certainly wish I would have sat down a little bit and looked at me and said, 'Listen, the end result is going to be this: You're going to get fired because none of us are willing to put up with it more,” she said of the show's producers. “'And I understand that you have a problem in your personal life, but that shouldn't permeate your work either, you also have to get your affairs in order.'”
Doherty admitted that she was “probably not” transparent about the problems she faced at the time, adding that she doesn't think anyone knew her father was “super sick” or that her husband was a “major drug addict,” which she claimed would become “incredibly violent at times.”
“It cost me everything,” she admitted. “I didn't even want to leave the house because I was afraid he was going to get drugs.”
Doherty noted that she knew her problems were “difficult” for 54-year-old Priestley, who admitted it was “incredibly difficult” for him to have conversations with producers. Aaron Spelling And Paul Wagner about her departure from the show.
“I wish I had known more about what was going on in your personal life at that time because hopefully I could have done it with more compassion and more care, but we only knew what we knew,” he said. “The hardest thing for me was that the show was about Brandon and Brenda. It was about the Walsh family and all of a sudden we were going to lose one of the members of the Walsh family.”
Priestley continued that there were “so many unknowns” as Doherty's departure raised a number of questions, including: “How will that affect the show?” and “How might we find a path to move forward with the show?”
“I wish we all had more knowledge about what was happening in your life so that we could have dealt with this situation in a more compassionate way,” he said, while Doherty added that she “should have been transparent” with him.
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“I should have coordinated my personal life more, I should have left a relationship sooner, I shouldn't have dated.” she admitted. “I was definitely affected by the attention, and then suddenly I could go into a nightclub and it didn't matter how old I was. I found it all very tempting and enticing. And I fell into that trap, and then you add the personal problems.”
She concluded: 'I take responsibility, I don't blame anyone. That's my problem.”
After her dismissal, reports emerged that Doherty had tensions with her colleague 90210 costars.
Tori spellingwho played Donna Martin, once claimed there was a physical fight involving Doherty Jennie Garth, who played Kelly Taylor in the teen drama. Spelling, 50, admitted she called her father about the incident.
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“I felt like I was part of something, a movement, that was costing someone their livelihood,” Spelling said during her 2015 Lifetime special: Tori spelling: celebrity lie detector. 'Was she a terrible person? No. She was one of the best friends I ever had.”
Despite any perceived feuds on set at the time, the cast seemingly put their differences behind them. In 2019, Fox announced that Doherty had reprized her role as Brenda in the network's reboot of the series, titled BH90210, where the actors portrayed heightened versions of themselves. While all the OG casts had signed on with the exception of Luke Perrywho died after suffering a stroke in 2019, the show was ultimately canceled after its first season.