Beverly Hills, 90210 cast member Shannen Doherty passed away last July following a long battle with cancer, but thanks to streaming, fans can keep her legacy alive by watching Doherty’s movies and shows. Her memory is also being kept alive thanks to her co-stars, especially after she was left out of the In Memoriam segment at the 97th Academy Awards. Jennie Garth previously called out the Oscars for not including her co-star, and now, fellow 90210 star Tori Spelling is sharing her thoughts about it.
While Doherty was mostly known for her TV roles, the actress had pretty memorable parts in films like Heathers and Mallrats, which is why the snub was so surprising. Spelling honored her former co-star on a special episode of Doherty’s Let’s Be Clear podcast, where she got real about how shocking and heartbreaking it was to see her name left off the segment, especially since she was in so many beloved movies:
I’m sure all of you definitely saw — as I saw, as the world saw — that it was heartbreaking that Shannen was left out of the ‘In Memoriam’ segment at the Academy Awards. I have to say, it was shocking, truly shocking. Because to me, I discovered Shannen as a fan on the big screen. While she was so iconically known for her TV roles — which I want to honor her and go through her career today — but it’s really the big screen where her career just thrived. And she just lit up the big screen, going back to when she was a kid.
It’s still unknown why Doherty was left out of the segment. Also, Spelling makes a good point about the fact that yes, she was pretty well known for her roles in shows such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, but she also grew quite a following from Heathers. Not to mention starring in the cult classic Mallrats. Spelling is still trying to come to terms with the snub, and I can’t say I blame her:
I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, when the ‘In Memoriam’ stopped and she hadn’t been included, my heart dropped. It sank. And it sank because I was like, ‘What? It’s such a miss.’
While Spelling also knows Doherty had a much more prominent TV career, even she can see that she was snubbed.
Every year, however, this happens at one award show or another. Along with Doherty’s exclusion at the 2025 Oscars, Michelle Trachtenberg was also left out, and so were Olivia Hussey, Linda Lavin, Bernard Hill, and Martin Mull. However, the Charmed actress was included in the Emmys In Memoriam last year, but that doesn’t mean she should have been left out of the Oscars tribute.
Even though it may not be the same, Spelling did put together a little tribute to Doherty of her own with this episode of Let’s Be Clear. It’s nice that the podcast is still continuing in Doherty’s honor, which has also seen guest hosts such as Marisol Nichols, Brooke Burke, Diane Farr, and even Charmed star Rose McGowan, who may not have worked with Doherty on the series, but they grew close while doing conventions together.
Meanwhile, fans have also been keeping Doherty’s memory alive, and one fan shared a clip from 90201 with her, Luke Perry, and Matthew Perry that’s truly sobering and heartbreaking, knowing that all three are no longer with us. Doherty may have been prepared for her death, but that doesn’t mean everyone else was, and it sucks that the Academy Awards didn’t put her in their big tribute to those we’ve lost in the last year.
