CW | WB
There’s some serious sibling rivalry going on in the witchy world of Charmed.
Over the weekend, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan—who played sisters Piper and Paige Halliwell on the WB’s original Charmed series—appeared together on an Instagram Live video when one fan mentioned the show had been removed from Netflix.
“I don’t know what that means,” Combs admitted on the video. “I think it means when you search for it, [Netflix wants] you to find the new Charmed and not the old people.”
“But it sucks,” McGowan chimed in. “I haven’t seen it, I can’t say that. I’ve never seen it,” she continued as Combs laughed. “I’m happy that people have jobs. But it can still suck.”
The video caused some waves over the weekend among fans of the reboot, which premiered in 2018 and stars three women of color in the principal roles.
Twitter user @deionte_17 said, “It really doesn’t sit right with me that white women from the OG charmed consistently put down a new #Charmed with a POC cast.. you hate to see it…”
Sarah Jeffery, who stars as Maggie Vera in the rebooted series, agrees.
“You know, I saw this earlier and I refrained from saying anything,” she tweeted on Monday. “I thought, better to just let them shout into the abyss. But I do want to say, I find it sad and quite frankly pathetic to see grown women behaving this way.”
“I truly hope they find happiness elsewhere, and not in the form of putting down other WOC [women of color],” she continued. “I would be embarrassed to behave this way. Peace and love to y’all.”
She then shared GIF of the famous “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” scene from The Wizard of Oz.
The original cast has been quite vocal about their disappointment since the reboot was announced, seemingly due to the fact that they weren’t asked to be involved in any capacity. They also took issue with the new show being marketed as a “fierce, funny, feminist” version of the original.
Combs was the most outspoken, saying, “I will never understand what is fierce, funny, or feminist in creating a show that basically says the original actresses are too old to do a job they did 12 years ago.”
Shannen Doherty, who starred as older sister Prue Halliwell, agreed, saying the wording was “terrible and a bit offensive.”
Alyssa Milano, who played Phoebe Halliwell, was a bit more eloquent but nonetheless disappointed.
“I wish that they would have come to us and we would have been involved since the beginning,” Milano said. “But having said that, I do hope that it reaches the newer generation and impacts that generation the way ours was able to do for its generation.”
But the Charmed Ones’ struggles aren’t limited to original vs. reboot. Milano and McGowan have made headlines several times over the past few years for their public feuding.
The actresses, who are both vocal social activists in the #MeToo movement, have sparred over politics online. Over the summer, McGowan criticized the Democratic Party for “accomplishing nothing.” She also previously called Milano “a lie” and “a fraud” for aligning herself with the party and endorsing Joe Biden.
“What have the Democrats done to solve anything?” the actress wrote. “Help the poor? No. Help Black and brown people? No. Stop police brutality? No. Help single mothers? No. Help children? No. You have achieved nothing. Nothing. Why did people vote Trump? Because of you motherf——.”
Which was something Milano took issue with.
“Rose and anyone bleating the same ‘dEmOcRaTs DoNt HeLp PeOpLe’ nonsense, your lies are going to hurt people less privileged than you,” she tweeted. “It’s the kind of thing an ACTUAL fraud would do. Thousands of people are dying a day but you go on with your hyperbolic attention-seeking tweets.”
“You made 250k per week on Charmed,” McGowan shot back on Twitter. “You threw a fit in front of the crew, yelling, ‘They don’t pay me enough to do this s— !’ Appalling behavior on the daily. I cried every time we got renewed because you made that set toxic AF. Now, get off my coattails you f—— fraud,” she claimed.
Things have gotten ugly, and it appears things will stay that way. Last week, Milano said that the rift is “very sad and it hurts.”
But just like in any family drama, there’s always one sibling in the role of peacemaker.
“This administration and political climate has torn real life families apart. Some tv families as well.” Combs tweeted about the spat. “The greatest thing about this country is our independence and our individual freedoms to think and speak for ourselves. Charmed gave us 4 distinct voices. That is legacy. Still.”
