Shannen Doherty’s cancer has come back, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better this time. According to legal documents obtained by TMZ as part of the Mallrats star’s ongoing legal battle with State Farm, Doherty has “stage four terminal cancer”. That’s really hard to hear.
Doherty broke the news herself on Good Morning America, saying she wanted her fans to hear it from her. She also talked about how shocked she was at her Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Luke Perry’s death.
Shannen said of Luke’s sudden passing, “Why wasn’t it me? It was so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was seemingly healthy to go first.”
Doherty recently made a very touching appearance on Riverdale’s tribute to Perry, playing a stranded driver who Perry’s character Fred Andrews stopped to help out when he was struck by a passing car.
Doherty has a somewhat speckled past, and she famously didn’t have the best relationship with her co-stars. Doherty left Charmed a is rumors of a feud with Alyssa Milano, though if the pair had differences they’ve moved past them and become friends. Jason Lee and Jason Priestly also reportedly had problems working with her in her younger days, but those complaints haven’t emerged with Doherty’s post-Charmed work.
Still, being somewhat abrasive isn’t a sin, and Doherty isn’t even 50. She’s not a bad person just because she’s been difficult to get along with in the past. She deserves to spend her last days in peace and comfort, not fighting with an insurance company.
At the end of the day, Shannen Doherty was in Heathers, and for that alone we’ll always remember her fondly. Wishing her well would seem a bit tone deaf, so I’ll just say that I hope the time she has left is time well-spent and when she’s gone, we’ll miss her.