Holly Marie Combs had her Charmed character go braless rather than wear a pushup

Publish date: 2024-05-04


Apparently, last weekend there was a three-day 90s Con in Connecticut?! Honestly, sounds fun. It had panels with stars from TV shows including, but not limited to: Full House, Family Matters, Brotherly Love, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, and Charmed. Charmed started airing on The WB in 1998 and ran for eight seasons. It was the network’s second longest-running drama; and being about three sister witches, it was one of the longest-running hourlong shows with all female leads. Despite that feminist cred, the real life “Powers That Be” took issue with Holly Marie Combs’ boobs and tried to get her to wear a padded bra in her scenes.

Holly Marie Combs took a major stand while working on Charmed.

During the show’s 90s Con panel on Saturday, Combs revealed she often didn’t wear a bra on set — but there’s a reason for that.

“They tried to be gentle about it, but … the messages would come down through the ranks. And then there would be, you know, that unfortunate person who had to deliver the message to you,” Combs, 48, recalled. “Usually, it was down to wardrobe. They were, like, setting these different bras in my dressing room and I was like, ‘Those belong to somebody else.’ ”

“They wanted me to wear a big, padded push-up bra and I was like, ‘no,’ hence why there are so many scenes of me not wearing a bra whatsoever,” she continued. “Which I apologize for but at the moment, at the time, it was very important.”

The panel’s host, Christy Carlson Romano, asked whether they provided an “alternative option” for her, but Combs replied: “No, nothing.”

Comparing herself to her costars Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan, Combs explained that “their boobs was [sic] enough” and “not everybody needed to have” a push-up bra.

Charmed ran for eight seasons on The WB from 1998 to 2006. Created by Constance M. Burge, the series followed three sisters as they discover they are witches and ultimately choose to use their powers to fight evil forces.

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So some show exec really gave that note that all the Halliwell sisters should have cleavage, but Holly Marie Combs’ wasn’t busty enough. Rude and gross, but not that surprising. They didn’t give her any alternatives, so perhaps they wanted her to go braless? Boobs hoisted up or braless, no normal bras on Charmed! I watched the first few seasons and didn’t remember the braless thing, likely because it wasn’t as obvious as in some sitcoms of that era. Holly Marie’s character, Piper, was presented as the more shy and reserved middle sister, so that bra might have been a bit incongruous for the character. The other sisters were definitely portrayed as sexier overall. Good for Holly Marie for standing firm and saying no to something she wasn’t comfortable with. It was important to her and she shouldn’t apologize. I probably couldn’t because I’m always freezing and not having that extra layer makes me feel colder, but maybe I too would do the same to make a point.

The Charmed stars have seen a fair bit of controversy recently for a show that ended so long ago. The ladies were, perhaps, unnecessarily critical of the reboot announcement in 2020. Then Krista Vernoff, who wrote for the original show for three seasons, told The Hollywood Reporter that she felt she was making something “bad for the world” after “there was an episode where Alyssa Milano comes out in mermaid pasties and there was a huge spike in male viewership, and then every episode after, the question would come from the network, ‘How are we getting the girls naked this week?’” Alyssa and Holly Marie took offense to that “bad for the world” comment. (Interestingly, in 2019 both actresses guest-starred as sisters on Grey’s Anatomy and Krista Vernoff is the show runner). I also disagree with that comment, but clearly the bra thing wasn’t an isolated incident and the network execs were pervily and opportunistically objectifying the actresses.

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Photos credit: Getty, (C) Warner Bros. Supplied by Pacificcoastnews.com, Bandphoto /Starstock/Photoshot

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