Shannen Doherty Says Pantsing Prank Gone Wrong Led To Fight With 90210 Castmate

Shannen Doherty is telling all about the group dynamics on the set of “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

Doherty spoke to her former cast mate, Brian Austin Green, about the differences between the women and men’s friendships on the show, and how things even escalated into a major blow-up with one of her female co-stars.

“I recall when tension started happening on the set, and it was always awesome to me that the boys got along so well,” Doherty told Green, adding that the “guys were always very supportive of each other and congratulating each other, and it wasn’t necessarily the same with the girls.”

Actors Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth pose for a portrait on the set of "Beverly Hills, 90210" in Sep. 1991 in Los Angeles.
Actors Luke Perry, Shannen Doherty, Jason Priestley and Jennie Garth pose for a portrait on the set of “Beverly Hills, 90210” in Sep. 1991 in Los Angeles.

Mark Sennet via Getty Images

Green told Doherty with a laugh that she was “sugarcoating that situation a little bit,” as he remembered “it got really rough and competitive for you all.”

“I remember at one point when there was a fight out front and Ian and I were there,” he said, explaining that the two intervened to “keep it from escalating.”

Doherty recalled that fight between herself and Jennie Garth, and explained just how it started.

“What’s really funny about that fight that was between myself and Jennie … she was doing [something], she was calling it ‘Pants Down Day,’” Doherty shared. “Where she would pull the pants on some of the crew members in a funny way, but some of them were getting pretty annoyed with it.”

“And then I reversed it and I said, ‘Skirt Up Day,‘” Doherty added. “And she always wore the men’s Calvin Klein boxer shorts under her clothes, so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. And so I did ‘Skirt Up Day’ and oh, my god. She lost it on me, and I was just not in the mood to back down.”

Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Ian Ziering arrive at Jennie Garth's 40th birthday celebration on April 19, 2012 in West Hollywood.
Shannen Doherty, Jennie Garth and Ian Ziering arrive at Jennie Garth’s 40th birthday celebration on April 19, 2012 in West Hollywood.

Michael Tran via Getty Images

Green said the fight was “a huge moment for everyone” on set at the time.

Garth has spoken about her time on “90210” before, and said she also “struggled” with competitiveness stemming from being on the show.

“If I’m honest, I think the show kind of taught me to be threatened by other girls, be threatened by other women and be more competitive because I wanted our costars’ approval or attention,” she said on an episode of her podcast, “9021OMG,” which she co-hosts with her former co-star and friend Tori Spelling, back in 2021.

“It messed with me on a deeper level, and not until later in life that I kind of think it wasn’t ever about the other girls,” Garth said at the time. “And why did I ever make the other girls an enemy in my mind?”