Shannen Doherty said that staying busy and productive with her podcast Let’s Be Clear helped push away feelings of depression amid the late stages of her cancer battle.
Doherty, who died at the age of 53 Saturday following a yearslong cancer battle, spoke with People in November 2023 about her podcasting endeavor, titled Let’s Be Clear, which she worked on over her final eight months.
The Beverly Hills, 90210 star said that being creatively engaged with the project helped relieve depression she was experiencing through the health crisis.
‘Listen, you’re seeing me on a good day. Right?’ the Memphis, Tennessee-born actress said. ‘But I think also the difference that I’ve really noticed is that when I’m working and when I’m creative, there’s no room for depression at all. It fuels me.’
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh on the Fox hit from 1990-1994, spoke about both her personal and professional life on the podcast, and said that it energized her amid tough times.
Shannen Doherty, who died at 53 Saturday, said that staying busy and productive with her podcast Let’s Be Clear helped push away feelings of depression amid the late stages of her cancer battle. Pictured in Florida in February
The Beverly Hills, 90210 star said that being creatively engaged with the project helped relieve depression she was experiencing through the health crisis
‘Working makes me so happy,’ the Charmed star said. ‘Even my podcast producers were like, “Really? You’re going to do three episodes in one day? It’s a lot.” And I was like, “I could do five in a day.”‘
Doherty added: ‘I just go … once they start working, I dive in, and I have such discipline and such work ethic, but it’s also invigorating. I love it – so that helps me for sure.’
The Heathers actress opened up on the podcast about the emotional highs and lows she experienced amid her health battle, as well as her divorce.
‘I’ve had bouts of depression,’ Doherty said. ‘Things have not been exactly easy and smooth. They’ve been really challenging, at times, and it’s hard to find yourself suddenly single in your 50s, and with stage four cancer. That’s a hard one.’
She added while her situation ‘was super depressing for a while,’ she eventually turned ‘a corner.’
In the November interview, Doherty told the outlet, ‘I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not – I’m not done.’
Following Doherty’s passing Saturday, a statement from her publicist Leslie Sloane read, ‘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.’
Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh on the Fox hit from 1990-1994, spoke about both her personal and professional life on the podcast, and said that it energized her amid tough times
Doherty, pictured in LA in 2019, added while her situation ‘was super depressing for a while,’ she eventually turned ‘a corner’
Her illness was publicly revealed in a lawsuit filed in 2015 against her former business managers, in which she alleged they mismanaged her money and allowed her health insurance to lapse.
She later shared intimate details of her treatment following a single mastectomy. In December 2016, she posted a photo of her first day of radiation, calling the treatment ‘frightening’ for her.
In February 2020, Doherty revealed that the cancer had returned and was at Stage 4. She said she came forward because her health conditions could come out in court.
The actor had sued insurance giant State Farm after her California home was damaged in a fire in 2018.
‘I have no idea how long I’m going to be on the chemo for,’ Doherty said on a late June episode of her podcast Let’s Be Clear. ‘That’s not something that I can predict, it’s not something my doctors can predict. And it’s scary, it’s like a big wake-up call.’
She added that a recent change in the shape of her cancer cells meant there were new treatment protocols for her to try.
‘For the first time in a couple months probably, I feel hopeful because there are so many more protocols now, whereas before I was hopeful – but I was still getting prepared,’ she said.
Doherty’s lawsuit against her ex-business managers was settled in 2016. She was open about the toll that cancer was taking. She posted photos that showed the baldness that followed treatment and, in an August 2016 interview with Entertainment Tonight, shared her fears.
The Heathers actress opened up on the podcast about the emotional highs and lows she experienced amid her health battle, as well as her divorce
Doherty advocated for cancer awareness and care, and spoke to the AP in 2021 about how spending years with the disease affected her life and sense of optimism
‘The unknown is always the scariest part,’ she said. ‘Is the chemo going to work? Is the radiation going to work?’ she said. ‘Pain is manageable, you know living without a breast is manageable, it´s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.’
Doherty advocated for cancer awareness and care, and spoke to the AP in 2021 about how spending years with the disease affected her life and sense of optimism.
‘When you get something like cancer, your tolerance for drama is zero. I don´t like people wasting my time. I don´t like negativity,’ she said. ‘It´s odd because I think if you look back, you´re like, `Oh, gosh, it´s so much drama around her,´ but I don´t think I was necessarily into the drama.
‘I just think if we took young 18-year-old Shannen, 19-year-old Shannen, and we took her and planted her like right now, I would be a nerd and nobody would be writing about me.’