Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs are reacting after former Charmed producer Krista Vernoff explained why she quit for show.
Vernoff is currently the showrunner for Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19. She told The Hollywood Reporter that she was worried Charmed was becoming “bad for the world,” saying that she was pressured to write scenes she didn’t feel comfortable with.
She explained: “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?'”
Vernoff, 47, said that the pressure kept increasing as viewership went up. She told THR: “And they were throwing money at me, and the number keeps going up, and there's all this pressure, and all I can think is, 'I'm creating something that's now bad for the world, and I've had enough bad for the world in my life.' “
She left. Milano, 48, came to Charmed’s defense. “Well, this absolutely broke my heart,” she wrote of Vernoff's comments. “I hope we didn't make something that was 'bad for the world' for eight years.”
Milano added, “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.”
Combs, 47, responded to Milano and shared her sentiment.
“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,” the Pretty Little Liars star said.
