It’s unfortunate, but sexism and Hollywood usually go hand in hand. This was no exception for Charmed star, Holly Marie Combs. When the actor was told to wear a padded push-up bra presumably to make her breasts appear bigger and perkier, she said no. In fact, she decided to ditch bras altogether on set, meaning her character, Piper Halliwell, was ditching them, too. For her, it was about rejecting the idea that her body, and the bodies of other women in Hollywood, weren’t good enough in their natural state. She wasn’t about to allow herself to be bullied.
If you grew up in the late ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you watched ‘Charmed’.
The iconic series starred Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano, and Shannon Doherty as sisters who use their witchcraft to fight evil. In 2001, Rose McGowan also joined the main cast.
The show ran on The WB for eight seasons and was a huge success with fans and critics.
Even though the show was a smash hit, much has come out over the years regarding on-set drama. Doherty left the show after three seasons, allegedly due to issues with some of her costars.
Now, another ‘Charmed’ actress has opened up about her time on the show.
Holly Marie Combs, who played Piper Halliwell, revealed in a recent interview that producers asked her to wear a “padded bra” as part of her costume.
She was the only asked to wear a padded bra.
Society is constantly trying to police the bodies of women, and Combs wasn’t going to take it. When she was pressured by the show to wear a push-up bra and didn’t see her co-stars go through the same, it felt unacceptable.
There was only one kind of bra option.
Not only was she expected to sport a new bra, there apparently weren’t any options other than the push-up variety to choose from. There were no alternatives to the specific padded bra they wanted her to wear. It would seem the show never asked for Combs’ input on what was going on her body, so she chose nothing.
There was a lot of pressure on-set.
Instead of telling her directly that her boobs weren’t the best in show (in their opinion), show creators explained that it was a “wardrobe issue.” The idea that the show would in some way suffer if her character didn’t have perky breasts is a little odd.
Combs apologized to audiences for being braless.
After she skipped wearing bras to prove a point to the show creators, Combs explained to People, “Hence why there are so many scenes of me not wearing a bra whatsoever. Which I apologize for but at the moment, at the time, it was very important.” She didn’t plan to go braless from the beginning, but responded accordingly to being bra bullied.
‘Charmed’ ended in 2006.
Since then, Combs has appeared in other hit TV shows like Pretty Little Liars and did a guest role on Grey’s Anatomy .
Combs is not a fan of the ‘Charmed’ reboot, though.
Looks like the drama isn’t over, as debates have been going strong between original Charmed cast members and cast from the reboot. In addition for being called out for going braless, Combs feels targeted for her character Piper not being seen as feminist as the characters featured in the reboot. It seems like Charmed and Combs are continually divided.
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She warned reboot stars to beware.
Combs actually wants the cast of the reboot to “stick together,” as she explained in a 2020 tweet revealing the unfair “ultimatums” that original cast was given, kind of like her bra situation. She also adds that many of the cast “problems” manifested on a corporate level. Combs’ post spoke to how easily replaced everyone was, as she reflected on the issues she and fellow cast members faced.
No bra was big enough to cover all the drama.
One fan Tweeted, “This is such a sad truth about Charmed. The show is such a big part of my life.” and Combs replied, “Don’t worry. We made what magic we could. And I’m ok with it.” Things have definitely gone wrong when fans have to feel bad about what the stars of their favorite shows went through on set, but it happens.
This situation opens up a larger discussion of bras in Hollywood.
With movements like Free the Nipple and people combatting gender standards both on-screen and beyond, there comes the issue of whether women should be able to choose to go braless or not and if show creators can dictate which bras they wear.
Let us know in the comments what you think of Combs’ situation and if you think it’s okay for shows to require certain actors to wear (or not wear) bras.