Shannen Doherty‘s mother, Rosa Dohertyand long-time friend Anne Marie Kortright reflect on the moment when they realized how “brave” the late actress was in her battle against cancer.
Nearly a month after Shannen’s death, Rosa, 77, and Kortright, 42, took over Shannen’s podcast, “Let’s Be Clear,” to honor her legacy and share stories about the beloved Beverly Hills, 90210 Star, including the time they helped her shave her head in 2016.
“I called you because she called me,” Rosa told Kortright. “I was there with her and she said, ‘Okay, mom, I want you to cut my hair.’ I said, ‘What?’ Because at the time she was losing some hair, but she still had a full head of hair. And she said, ‘No, come with me,’ and she took me into the bathroom and put her hair in a ponytail and said, ‘Cut that ponytail off now.’ And I cut the ponytail off. And then we looked at each other and thought, ‘What do we do now?'”
Rosa further recalled that after Shannen insisted that they had to “get everything done right now,” she called Kortright for help because they didn’t have any clippers.
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“Those of you going through this right now know it’s not as easy as it looks. You actually need some training,” Kortright explained. “So I got some training really quickly. But you know what, seriously, it was a big moment. I didn’t realize until later how brave she was. How truly brave she was to just endure all of that and share it with you guys, and you know how much love came after that post.”
Kortright noted that the trio “went back and forth” before sharing the shave on social media, but after the overwhelmingly positive reaction from their followers, they knew they made the right decision.
“When we finally saw the response, we thought, ‘This is the right thing to do because there are so many people out there going through this alone,'” she added. “She really gave them the courage to just dare to go out and talk about it. And also raise awareness. She really raised so much awareness about breast cancer all by herself. She did so much work on her own.”
Shannen, who openly documented her cancer diagnosis and shared her daily life with her followers, died in July after a long battle with cancer. She was 53 years old.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after battling the disease for many years,” said Shannen’s spokeswoman. Leslie Sloanesaid in a statement to We weekly at the time. “The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”
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Rosa broke her silence about her daughter’s death a few days later.
“She is my beautiful girl and my heart,” she said People“Our family would like to thank everyone who has shown our Shannen love and support throughout her life. We are truly grateful.”
Shannen was first diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 2015. After a remission, the cancer returned, so the actress went public with her illness in 2017. In November 2023, she shared that the disease had spread to her bones and eventually her brain.
