by shannendrules3 » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:51 pm
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Shannen Doherty's US Magazine Interview
1993
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Us: Why do you suppose that people want to assume you're a bitch?
Shannen: I don't know. I think one of the main problems is that my character started off very sweet and gradually she became sappy. She takes everything too seriously and feels like she's being f'ed over all the time. [People] aren't separating Shannen and Brenda Walsh. They hate the character, so they automatically hate me.
Us: Let's talk about the Billboard awards. Did you have any premonition that the crowd would not be with you?
Shannen: Yeah. I warned all my representatives that I shouldn't do it. But they said, "You're already committed, you can't back out because it will look like the Emmys. They'll blow it up into a big thing." So five minutes before I went on, I looked at my manager and said, "I'm going to get booed. I know it's going to happen. And you're responsible because you put me on here."
Us: What happened backstage?
Shannen: I was very, very, upset. I was crying, saying, "I can't believe you put me out there." I mean, it was horrible. I've never been more hurt in my entire life. Then this guy that was hanging out with Arrested Development came over and said, "Let me tell you something: You'll die, they'll die, we all die sometime and the world keeps on spinning. They don't know you. You're talented, you're beautiful, you're a great girl. So just forget it."
Us: Why do you think the audience booed you?
Shannen: Everybody thinks that I punched some girl at a bar.
Us: Did you?
Shannen: No.
Us: You're referring to the December incident with Bonita Money, what happened?
Shannen: To cut to the chase, there was tension between my table and their table from the beginning, because they wanted to sit where I was sitting and the owner of the club sat me there. So they got upset with us for sitting there. My friend - I'd rather not give his name, but it wasn't [90210 costar] Brian Austin Green - stepped on a man's foot and apologized, and [the man] didn't really accept his apology. Then Brian thought my friend said that he had stepped on this man's foot and Brian apologized. By that time we were standing in front of their table, as were leaving the club. I bent down and said, "Excuse me, what's going on?" This man looked at me and said, "I don't like you, that's what's going on." I said, "All right," and tried to pull away, but he grabbed my arm. My friend had my other arm and was trying to pull me away. I started to stand up to leave, and out of nowhere, Bonita Money, who I've never laid eyes on - never had any talk with at all - just hit me in the left cheek. Just hit me right there.
Us: Did she slap you or did she punch you?
Shannen: Kind of closed fist. I just looked at her, and I was crying. My friend and Brian grabbed me, took me into the bar. Security was called. The police arrested her, took her downstairs. They asked me if I wanted to file charges. I said yes. When they told her, she said, "Well I'm pressing charges, too." [Bonita Money responds, in part: "I think most of that's right up until the point of [my friend's] grabbing her." Money also claims she did not hit Doherty and adds "she just kind of grabbed me. Then, I grabbed her and threw her away from the table."] It's ridiculous that somebody in this world, somebody in L.A., can be so attention starved that they can hit a celebrity, get away with it, and get, so much publicity. She did A Current Affair, she did Howard Stern... I find it upsetting that all these people actually let her on their shows. We went to [the hearing], and the [hearing officer] couldn't make a clear-cut decision, so she said the charges were dropped against both parties. It's over.
Us: Do you feel satisfied with the outcome?
Shannen: No. I'm not satisfied. It says something about our judicial system, I think. The D.A.'s office should press charges against her. She got free publicity at my expense and made me look very bad... It did a lot of damage to me. I had advertising companies drop me. I lost money.
Us: Do you have a bodyguard?
Shannen: I do now.
Us: How has it affected your life?
Shannen: It's a major drag not to be able to go out and just hang with your friends and stuff. But I guess for now I have to.
Us: Is the lesson, then, that it is sometimes better to back down?
Shannen: I wasn't really raised that way, that's probably my problem. I was raised to stand up for myself, if I feel I'm in the right. Maybe it would have been best if I'd just gone home with my swollen cheek... she has a mean left hook.
Us: Earlier, you mentioned the Emmys. Why did you drop out at the last minute?
Shannen: I didn't. I dropped out Saturday morning at the rehearsal. The [script] that I got was different that the [script] that was there. Also, I felt that considering Fox was doing the Emmys, our whole cast should have been there. The cast was not given tickets. Even Aaron Spelling wasn't going. And my representatives had their problems. They came to me after rehearsal and said, "We really feel like we should take you out of the Emmys." I said, "It's going to cause a huge stink." And they said, "We'll deal with it." And I said, "I hired you guys to make decisions, so fine, I'll go with your decision."
Us: And were you satisfied with how they dealt with it?
Shannen: Well, there's only so much that you can do. People hit the press right away and lie about you. What can you say? The director, whatever his name is - I've never met him in my entire life - mad this statement that I'm this terrible lady and that I was jealous that I didn't have enough lines. I had plenty of lines; that wasn't the problem.
Us: In fact, what people said was that you were angered by the decision to let 90210 costar Jennie Garth deliver the first lines of the award presentation.
Shannen: No [laughs]. I have no problems with Jennie, despite what people think.
Us: Her recent behavior on Arsenio would indicate otherwise.
Shannen: What did she say?
Us: It was more about what she didn't say. When asked about you, her response was primarily made up of well-timed pauses.
Shannen: Jennie was afraid that I would be upset with her. But you can only defend somebody so much. From what I understand, she just felt cornered and very flustered. I totally understood where she was coming from. It's like [the 90210 cast members] don't know what to say anymore.
Us: If you were a talk-show host, how would you handle it?
Shannen: Get over it and say, "Hey, let's give this girl a shot. Let's give her a chance." Everybody deserves a second chance in this world. That's basically all I ask. Like: "Don't believe what you're reading about me. Let me prove to your what I'm like."