Shannen Doherty’s mother Rosa shares heartbreaking details of shaving daughter's hair amid cancer battle
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Shannen Doherty’s mother Rosa is reflecting on the time she realized the bravery of her late daughter when she was battling with cancer.
Almost a month after the ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ actress’ death, Rosa, 77, and Doherty’s friend, Anne Marie Kortright, 42, took over the late actress’s podcast ‘Let’s Be Clear’ where they discussed the heartbreaking memory from the late actress’ struggle with cancer.
During the candid chat, the duo reminisced about when they helped Doherty shave her head in 2016.
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Rosa Doherty reminisces about her daughter
“I called you because she called me,” Rosa Doherty recalled the 2016 incident to Anne Marie Kortright, before explaining, “I was there with her, and she’s like, ‘OK, mom, I want you to cut my hair'.”
She shared her surprise, saying, “I’m like, ‘What?’ Because at the time she was losing some hair, but she still had a full head of hair. And she said, ‘No, come with me', and she took me into the bathroom and she put her hair in a ponytail and she said, ‘Cut this ponytail off now'.”
“And I did cut the ponytail. And then we’re looking at each other like, ‘What are we going to do now?'” Rosa continued.
The heartbroken mother recalled that she had to call Kortright for help as they didn’t have clippers, but her daughter insisted that they needed to “go ahead and do it all now.”
Kortright interjected at this point, saying, “For those of you who are going through this, you will know that it is not as easy as it looks. You actually need some training.”
She continued, “So I got some training real quickly. But you know what, in all seriousness, it was a big moment. I didn’t realize it until later on how brave she was.”
“Like, how truly brave she was to just bear it all and share it with you guys, and you know the outpouring of love after that post,” emphasized Kortright.
The Puerto Rican fashion model shared that they went “back and forth” before Doherty shared the head-shaving process on social media.
However, Kortright said they knew they had made the right decision after Doherty’s social media was flooded with positive responses.
“Finally, when we saw the response, we were like, ‘This is the right thing because there’s so many people out there going through this alone,'” Kortright added.
Doherty’s friend continued, “She truly gave them the courage to just, like, go for it and go out there and talk about it. And also create all the awareness. She truly, on her own, created so much breast cancer awareness. She did so much work on her own.”
Shannen Doherty’s mother will continue her legacy
The ‘90210’ actress passed away on July 13 after battling with cancer for almost a decade. Shannen Doherty was first diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2015 but went into remission soon.
Her illness returned and the actress shared the news to her fans in 2017. Doherty, who has never shied away from sharing her struggles, inspired thousands through her positive outlook.
In November 2023, Doherty announced that her cancer had spread to her bones and brain.
Last month, Doherty’s publicist Leslie Sloane shared the heartbreaking news of her passing through a statement, per Us Weekly.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease,” shared Sloane in a statement.
The statement continued, “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.”
During Wednesday’s episode, Rosa expressed her gratitude to the fans who supported the family after Doherty’s death and shared that she plans to continue her daughter’s work.
She shared, "I'm going to do my best to keep her wishes alive because that's what she wanted me to do," before adding, "Of course, I'm not her. I could never be her. I'm not as well-spoken as she was, but I'm here for all of you," per Newsweek.
"It meant so much to me because I got to watch her do this when it was so special for her... And helped her so much through everything she was going through,” added Rosa.
