Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs have responded with surprise and disappointment to the claims of a former Charmed producer, who says she was pressured into putting more titillating content in later seasons of the show.
Krista Vernoff, a producer on the original run of the series, revealed this week that she quit because she was concerned that she was doing something “bad for the world”. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, she said:
“I signed on because Charmed was a girl-power show, and about halfway through there was an episode where Alyssa Milano comes out in mermaid pasties and there was a huge spike in male viewership, and then every episode after, the question would come from the network, ‘How are we getting the girls naked this week?’
She went on to say that the show’s viewership increased, and she was offered more and more money to come up with more revealing content, but she no longer wanted to be involved, thinking: “I’m creating something that’s now bad for the world, and I’ve had enough bad for the world in my life.”
After leaving, Krista Vernoff went on to work on various other shows, including the long-running hit Grey’s Anatomy.
After the article came out, the stars of the original Charmed were dismayed. Sharing it in a Tweet, Alyssa Milano wrote:
“Well, this absolutely broke my heart. I hope we didn’t make something that was ‘bad for the world’ for eight years. I think we gave permission to a generation of women to be themselves and to be strong and own their sexuality. I’m so proud of what this show meant to so many.”
I can attest 1000% Charmed was not bad for the world. The reasons and people are too long to list. Maybe it was bad for Krista’s world at the time. End story.
— Holly Marie Combs Ryan (@H_Combs) April 1, 2021
Holly Marie Combs echoed this sentiment, saying:
“I can attest 1000% Charmed was not bad for the world. The reasons and people are too long to list. Maybe it was bad for Krista’s world at the time. End story.”
Vernoff has not yet publicly responded to the stars’ Tweets.
