Rose McGowan responds to Charmed reboot star Sarah Jeffery

Rose McGowan has responded to Charmed reboot star Sarah Jeffery after she was accused by the actress of ‘putting down’ women of color. 

Jeffery made the accusation after McGowan, 47, criticized the remake of the CW series, which stars three actresses of color. 

But McGowan, 47, denied Jeffery’s accusations in a lengthy statement posted to her Instagram stories on Wednesday, where she insisted her problem lay with show creators.   

McGowan, who starred in the original Charmed series, criticized the trend of remaking popular television shows, and called the new reboot ‘a money grab to cash in on the Charmed name.’  

‘I’m beyond glad any WOC has a well paying job’: Rose McGowan has responded to Charmed reboot star Sarah Jeffery after she was accused by the actress of ‘putting down’ women of color (pictured April 2019)

‘Dear Sarah Jeffery, I honestly have no idea who you were til you tweeted. I have been too busy fighting monsters & fighting for a massive Cultural Reset to notice who’s in the reboot. Absolutely nothing to do with race, that’s quite a stretch you took. I’m beyond glad any WOC has a well paying job. Hell yes to that. I’m sure you are a great actress.

‘My quibble (google it) is about execs & producers & @wb network trading on years of my work & name in such a cynical and obvious way – a money grab to cash in on the Charmed name. I do not care that they remade it, I have far bigger things I’m dealing with. I do not nor will I watch a show I disagree with on principle.

‘This is not my ego trashing the reboot, this is a criticism of creators (those are the ones who should be embarrassed) with little to no imagination making bank off of years of us busting our a** to create a legacy that you are actually profiting off of as well.’

McGowan had strong words about remakes as a whole, calling them ‘shadows’ to the ‘sun.’  

Hitting back: McGowan, 47, took to her Instagram stories on Wednesday to deny Jeffery's accusations

Hitting back: McGowan, 47, took to her Instagram stories on Wednesday to deny Jeffery’s accusations

Bone to pick: Sarah Jeffery was not happy to see McGowan criticizing the Charmed reboot

Bone to pick: Sarah Jeffery was not happy to see McGowan criticizing the Charmed reboot 

‘I care that the original fans weren’t listened to. I care that Hollywood won’t stop making remakes that don’t need to be remade. It’s a formula that’s gone on for too long. Mediocrity rules there, not just sociopaths. There’s no soul or heart in something made purely for profit whilst refusing to elevate and innovate. Reboots will always be the shadow, the originals will always be the sun. I wish you well.’ 

The drama all started after McGowan and her former Charmed costar Holly Marie Combs appeared in a TikTok video where McGowan said the new reboot ‘sucks’.

The women were discussing how the original Charmed show was no longer on Netflix, with Combs theorizing it was done to make viewers watch the new Charmed show instead. 

‘I think it means when you search for it, they want you to find the new Charmed and not the old people,’ Combs speculated.

‘But it sucks!’ McGowan interjected. ‘I haven’t seen that, I can’t say that. I’ve never seen it.’

‘I said it sucks!’ she repeated. ‘But I’m happy that people have jobs! But it can still suck.’

The video eventually caught the attention of Jeffery, who criticized the actresses on Twitter.  

Jeffery retweeted a tweet featuring the video posted by Twitter user deionte_17, who said, ‘It really doesn’t sit right with me that white women from the OG charmed consistently put down a new #Charmed with a POC cast.. you hate to see it…’

‘You know, I saw this earlier and I refrained from saying anything,’ Jeffery began in her retweet.

‘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. 

Holly slammed Sarah Jeffery for accusing her and Rose of 'putting down other WOC' in their criticism of the reboot

Holly slammed Sarah Jeffery for accusing her and Rose of ‘putting down other WOC’ in their criticism of the reboot

Reaction: It all began on Monday night, when Sarah, 24, reacted to two stars of the original show making comments about the reboot

Reaction: It all began on Monday night, when Sarah, 24, reacted to two stars of the original show making comments about the reboot

She added in another tweet, ‘I truly hope they find happiness elsewhere, and not in the form of putting down other WOC.

‘I would be embarrassed to behave this way. Peace and love to y’all,’ she concluded in her two-tweet thread.  

She also tweeted an image of her dad posing with Shannen Doherty pre-COVID, calling the actress ‘lovely’ and saying that she told her dad she was ‘thrilled for us’ and the rebooted version of the show. 

Alyssa: Jeffery quote retweeted a tweet featuring the video posted by Twitter user deionte_17, who said,' It really doesn¿t sit right with me that white women from the OG charmed consistently put down a new #Charmed with a POC cast.. you hate to see it...'

Alyssa: Jeffery quote retweeted a tweet featuring the video posted by Twitter user deionte_17, who said,’ It really doesn’t sit right with me that white women from the OG charmed consistently put down a new #Charmed with a POC cast.. you hate to see it…’

Combs did not take Jeffery’s claims lightly as she responded to the actress on Twitter.   

‘That’s some bulls**t. And a lot of it. Clearly. People speaking, excuse me typing, derogatory accusations of a person’s character despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary because of a difference in opinions about a tv show is just plain wrong. And also personal gain honey.’ 

Combs, who played Piper Halliwell on the hit series in its entirety from 1998 until 2006, shared a second tweet that said: ‘There’s more important things happening in the world. Carry on.’

Embarrassed: 'I would be embarrassed to behave this way. Peace and love to y'all,' she concluded in her two-tweet thread

Embarrassed: ‘I would be embarrassed to behave this way. Peace and love to y’all,’ she concluded in her two-tweet thread

This is not the first time the original cast of Charmed has openly criticized the rebooted version of their hit series. 

In 2018, Combs tweeted: ‘Until you ask us to rewrite it like Brad Kern [original Charmed series’ showrunner] did weekly don’t even think of capitalizing on our hard work. Charmed belongs to the 4 of us, our vast amount of writer, crews and predominately the fans. FYI you will not fool them by owning a title/stamp. So bye,’ via Entertainment Weekly

Combs also said she took issue with how the CW network was going about branding the reboot, which was ‘fierce, funny, feminist.’ 

Throwback: She also tweeted an image of her dad posing with Shannen Doherty pre-COVID, calling the actress 'lovely' and saying that she told her dad she was 'thrilled for us' and the rebooted version of the show

Throwback: She also tweeted an image of her dad posing with Shannen Doherty pre-COVID, calling the actress ‘lovely’ and saying that she told her dad she was ‘thrilled for us’ and the rebooted version of the show

Combs criticized that language used in a tweet: ‘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.’

Doherty had originally also found problems with that phrasing, saying it ‘terrible and a bit offensive,’ however seemed to later warm up on the idea of the show reaching a new audience.

She wrote that she was ‘intrigued by the idea that a new generation might be comforted, inspired like all you were.’

Alyssa Milano, who played Phoebe Halliwell on the show, chimed in before the reboot aired and said: ‘I wish that they would have come to us and we would have been involved since the beginning. 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’ via Entertainment Weekly.

Original: The original Charmed series debuted in 1998, following three sisters (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty) who are the most powerful 'good witches' of all time

Original: The original Charmed series debuted in 1998, following three sisters (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty) who are the most powerful ‘good witches’ of all time

The original Charmed series debuted in 1998, following three sisters (Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, Shannen Doherty) who are the most powerful ‘good witches’ of all time.

After Shannen, who played Prue Halliwell, left the show following season three, Rose was cast on the series as their youngest half-sister Paige Matthews – beginning season four.

The series ran for eight seasons on The WB Network from 1998 to 2006, spanning 179 episodes.

Charmed again: After Shannen, who played Prue Halliwell, left the show following season three, Rose was cast on the series as their youngest half-sister Paige Matthews - beginning season four; from L to R: Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs

Charmed again: After Shannen, who played Prue Halliwell, left the show following season three, Rose was cast on the series as their youngest half-sister Paige Matthews – beginning season four; from L to R: Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs

The CW (which The WB was ultimately turned into) rebooted Charmed in 2018, casting three women of color as the sisters, Jeffery, Melonie Diaz and Madeline Mantock. 

Charmed reboot started production on its third season last week in Vancouver, according to a report in Deadline. 

Filming was expected to start in September, though delays in COVID-19 testing pushed filming back by a month.

While no premiere date has been given, The CW already announced in May that its TV season wouldn’t begin in earnest until January 2021. 

Reboot: The CW (which The WB was ultimately turned into) rebooted Charmed in 2018, casting three women of color as the sisters, Jeffery, Melonie Diaz and Madeline Mantock

Reboot: The CW (which The WB was ultimately turned into) rebooted Charmed in 2018, casting three women of color as the sisters, Jeffery, Melonie Diaz and Madeline Mantock