Sarah Jeffery slams original Charmed stars as 'pathetic' for criticizing reboot

Sarah Jeffery Slams Original 'Charmed' Stars as 'Pathetic' for Criticizing Reboot

Sarah Jeffery is speaking up for the 'Charmed' reboot.

Sarah Jeffery is speaking up for the Charmed reboot.

On Monday night, the actress, who stars on the CW's Charmed, called two original stars of the series, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs, "sad and quite frankly pathetic" after Combs posted a video on Instagram in which McGowan criticizes the reboot.

"You know, I saw this earlier and I refrained from saying anything," Jeffery tweeted Monday night, referring to the video. "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."

She added in a second tweet, "I truly hope they find happiness elsewhere, and not in the form of putting down other WOC [Women of Color]. I would be embarrassed to behave this way. Peace and love to y’all."

In the video, McGowan, referring to the Charmed reboot, says, "But it sucks. I haven't seen it, I can't say that. I've never seen it ... But I'm happy that people have jobs. But it can still suck." Combs laughed while her former costar made her remarks, but didn't comment on the new show.

EW has reached out to representatives for McGowan and Combs for further comment.

The WB's Charmed starred Combs, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty, and, eventually, McGowan after Doherty departed, as demon-fighting witches. The beloved series ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006. The CW series premiered in 2018 with the Charmed ones played by Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz, and Jeffery.

Andrew Macpherson/The WB (L-R) Holly Marie Combs, Rose McGowan, and Alyssa Milano.

The original Charmed stars have been vocal about their disappointment with the reboot from the beginning. Combs, especially, objected to newcomers "capitalizing on our hard work."

“Until you ask us to rewrite it like Brad Kern did weekly don’t even think of capitalizing on our hard work," Combs tweeted in 2018. "Charmed belongs to the 4 of us, our vast amount of writers, crews, and predominantly the fans. FYI you will not fool them by owning a title/stamp. So bye."

She and Doherty also took issue with the CW series marketing itself as a “fierce, funny, feminist" reboot of the original show.

"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," Combs wrote earlier that year. Doherty similarly felt the marketing belittled the original series, calling the wording "terrible and a bit offensive."

Shane Harvey/The CW (L-R) Sarah Jeffery, Melonie Diaz, and Madeleine Mantock

However, Doherty later seemed more open-minded about a reimagining, tweeting in January 2018 that she was "intrigued by the idea that a new generation might be comforted, inspired like all you were."

Milano said she felt let down that the reboot's team didn't reach out to her or others in the original cast, but was hopeful that it could reach "a whole new generation" of fans.

“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.”

Related:

• Charmed turns 20! Shannen Doherty explains why she doesn't want to appear on the reboot

• Alyssa Milano addresses The CW’s Charmed reboot: ‘I wish that they would have come to us’

• Charmed reboot cast and EPs respond to Holly Marie Combs' objections