Shannen Doherty‘s long-awaited return to television with the reboot of “Beverly Hills, 90210,” (titled “BH90210”), which is set to debut Wednesday, August 7 on FOX, has not come without controversy. Prior to signing on, the actress had been battling cancer and wasn’t expected to join co-stars Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling as they played heightened versions of themselves. Now with FOX doing a promo tour for the show starting with this week’s upfront presentation that included the release of the first real teaser of what fans can expect in the reboot, rumors have run rampant over a new round of alleged backstage conflicts that long plagued Doherty during the first iteration of the iconic series and her time on The WB’s “Charmed.” This time, the actress is speaking out and addressing the rumors head-on while also receiving numerous amounts of support, including from former “All My Children” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Sarah Michelle Gellar, among others.
According to a report by Variety, sources tell the publication that several writers have quit “BH90210” over alleged “interference from two of the show’s lead actresses” and “that the writers were unhappy with one of the executives overseeing the project.” As a result, Paul Sciarrotta has been named the new showrunner along with the series’ creators Chris Alberghini and Mike Chessler.
RadarOnline took the story further quoting a source who said Doherty is “putting her two cents in with the production, the writers, etc. She was one of the last cast members to sign onto the reboot because she had many questions before they even started shooting.” The source added Doherty “was always afraid that the reboot wouldn’t be up to par, embarrassing even.”
In response to the Radar story specifically, Doherty took to social media to set the record straight, saying on Instagram, “Being a part of tv history is an honor but it also comes with some massive backlash. There has been many stories floating around about this show and me. One of the reasons I hesitated to say yes was for this crap. The only thing I’m a control freak over is my health. Trying to stay healthy and positive.” She emphasized, “I realized this morning, that I have a fear of doing what I love because of headlines like this. Not only because there is zero truth to it but because it lessens me and my journey, battle, experience with cancer. Why should I be scared to work? And why aren’t people held accountable for their fabricated stories? I refuse to be cast in the same villain role because “journalists” lack imagination and I certainly refuse to be cheapened as a survivor and as a woman by them. Yes, I am a strong woman. I have been thru hell and back. I am compassionate and caring. I’m multi-faceted and not someone to be pigeonholed. I am a woman with my own story. Please stop trying to tell your wildly inaccurate, exaggerated story of me. I promise… you don’t know me.”
In support of Doherty, Gellar responded to her post on Instagram and said, “I know you, and I know that you are awesome. Our culture of 24-hour news cycles (and I use the term news quite loosely) perpetuates these damaging stories, that are truly nothing more than click bait. It’s disappointing at best and quite damaging at its worst. I can only hope that we are all smarter than the people that write these ridiculous stories, and can recognize fiction when we see it.” At present, Gellar’s reply has received over 1,600 likes. Doherty’s post itself has received over 30,000 likes.
You can read Doherty’s post in full below.
