Rose McGowan accuses Alyssa Milano of “Toxic AF” behavior on Charmed set

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

If you were hoping for that Charmed reunion you may want to hold your breath, especially if you want to get Rose McGowan and Alyssa Milano in the same room for one. Milano starred as Phoebe Halliwell on Charmed, which followed three witch sisters battling supernatural forces, from 1998 to 2006 alongside Holly Marie Combs (Piper Halliwell). Shannen Doherty (Prue Halliwell) was also a series lead for the first three seasons until her departure in 2001. McGowan joined the cast in season 4 as half-sister Paige Matthews and stayed with the show for five seasons until the end of its run. The show built around sisterly bonds but McGown and Milano have been at war for a while now and this time it was sparked over politics which led to McGowan calling out Milano's alleged behavior on the set of the hit series. 

The war of words began when McGowan, 46, criticized Democrats for achieving “nothing” following the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Milano, 47, responded with a series of tweets listing the achievements of the Democratic party:

"Rose and anyone bleating the same ‘dEmOcRaTs DoNt HeLp PeOpLe’ nonsense, your lies are going to hurt people less privileged than you. 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."

Boom! Shots fired! McGowan, not one to not push back when being pushed, fired back at Milano and accused the actress of appropriating the #MeToo movement and then went in on what Milano was allegedly like to work with on the set of Charmed:

"You stole #metoo (a brilliant communication tool, not a movement) from Tarana [Burke]. You co-opted my movement, the Cultural Reset, for fame, jealous of me for outing my rapist. You made 250k per week on Charmed. You threw a fit in front of the crew, yelling, ‘They don’t pay me enough to do this s–t!’ 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–king fraud."

In response, Milano later asked her fans to get #AlyssaMilanoIsALie to trend on Twitter. “Do you think we can get #AlyssaMilanoIsALie to trend number 1 before I fall asleep?”, she asked. "Everyone saying sweet things—I see you. Thank you. Everyone saying horrible things—I see you. F–k off. Hurt people hurt people. Empowered people empower people. Loved people love people.” The hashtag is a reference to the McGowan's comments about Milano in February 2018, when she claimed the actress’ involvement in the Time’s Up movement wasn’t genuine. “I don’t like her,” McGowan said on Nightline at the time. "Cause I think she is a lie."

This is hardly the first instance of drama within the Charmed cast. Doherty’s exit is famously credited to behind-the-scenes conflict with Milano, though specifics of their feud remain somewhat unclear. Earlier this month, McGowan reunited with Combs during an Instagram Live where she claimed that Doherty and Milano aren’t fond of each other. “I’m pretty sure Alyssa and Shannen hate each other,” she said when Combs briefly left the live stream.

Holly Marie Combs tweeted back at several fans about McGowan and Milano’s disagreements and much like her middle-sister character, she played peacemaker, clearly indicating that she has a decent relationship with both actresses and wasn't in the business of taking sides:

"We are all different and stand up for our own beliefs. That’s the kind of independence the show stood for then and we stand for now. It’s actually very appropriate that we are different and do not pretend otherwise.”

In Milano's defense, the actress received a lot of support from fans and other people who worked on Charmed in some capacity during its run and their defense of her seems to refute McGowan's claims:

Can't see these "sisters" getting this together anytime soon. At least we have that CW reboot to fill the void. Right? Maybe? No? Does no one care about the reboot? Fine, get the cast of Buffy The Vampire Slayer together for a reunion. Much rather see that anyway.