Shannen Doherty announced the awful news on Tuesday that she is once again battling cancer. The 48-year-old “90210” star opened up to “Good Morning America” about her diagnosis, which comes just four years after her initial breast cancer went into remission.
“It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I have stage 4,” she said in the interview, revealing that she’s been battling it for over a year. “So my cancer came back and that’s why I’m here.”
“I don’t think that I’ve processed it,” Doherty told ABC News’ Amy Robach. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do.
“I would say that my first reaction is always concern about how I’m going to tell my mom, my husband,” she added.
.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: @DohertyShannen opens up about her private health battle. “I’m stage four – my cancer came back.”@arobachhttps://t.co/IvsAr3odaj pic.twitter.com/Amhcm7x5Q4
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 4, 2020
Doherty was diagnosed just before her “Beverly Hills” co-star Luke Perry’s death in March of 2019 from a massive stroke.
“It was so weird for me to be diagnosed and then somebody who was seemingly healthy to go first,” Doherty said. “It was really shocking and the least I could do to honor him was do that show. I still haven’t done enough in my opinion.”
“It’s a hard one because I thought when I finally do come out I would have worked and worked 16 hours a day and people can look at that and say, ‘Oh my God, she can work and other people with stage 4 can work,'” she continued while talking about filming the “Beverly Hills 90210” reboot last year. “Our life doesn’t end the minute we get that diagnosis. We still have some living to do.”
Doherty is currently in a lawsuit with State Farm Insurance, and she knew that her cancer diagnosis would soon be made public via court documents, so she wanted to tell the world on her own.
“I’d rather people hear it from me,” she said. “I don’t want it to be twisted; I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic and I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me.”
She is suing the company because she claims she had to pay out of pocket for wildfire damage to her home, which Doherty feels State Farm should’ve covered.
“I want to make an impact,” she said. “I can that impact through this lawsuit and by saying enough is enough with big business and corporations running the little person over. It’s not fair and I’m taking a stand for all of us. I want to be remembered for something bigger than just me.”
