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Behind every iconic TV friendship lies a story—sometimes, a tense and bitter reality. From salary disputes and on-set clashes to deep personal grudges, many beloved co-stars never saw eye to eye once the cameras stopped rolling. Join us as we spill the tea on some of the most surprising and dramatic off-screen rivalries between actors who played best friends on television.
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00:00But fame always comes at a price. Behind the scenes, Laverne and Shirley wasn't all fun and games.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the on-screen TV besties
00:12who either fell out or had to hide their real-life tension once the cameras started rolling.
00:17Hey, Megan, what are you doing?
00:19Um, oh, not too much. Just this thing that I really love to do called press.
00:24Number 20. Suzanne Somers, John Ritter, and Joyce DeWitt
00:29Three's Company
00:30This is one roommate situation that got complicated on-screen and off.
00:35As the dim-witted but good-hearted Chrissy Snow, Suzanne Somers was an essential part of the chemistry of Three's Company.
00:44Chrissy, you shouldn't be thinking about us now.
00:47Oh, yeah. You know, as long as I live, I'll never forget how super you both were.
00:53Apparently, the executives didn't agree.
00:55John Ritter was making five times the salary of either Somers or co-star Joyce DeWitt.
01:02When Somers tried to enlist her co-stars in her quest for equal pay, it didn't go well.
01:07Somers was fired, but only after being contracted to film scenes separately from the cast during Season 5.
01:13What do you mean, what's the answer, Chrissy? I don't even know what the question is.
01:17Oh, sure. Play dumb.
01:21Her co-stars all but abandoned her.
01:24While she was able to patch things up with DeWitt, according to Somers,
01:28Ritter only forgave her shortly before his death in 2003.
01:31You went up against ruthlessness and it came down.
01:35You and I deserve to be paid equal with what the men were being paid, is my feeling about that.
01:40So, it was their loss.
01:41Number 19. Charlie Sheen and Selma Blair
01:44Anger Management
01:45In the aftermath of his firing from Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen launched another show,
01:51Anger Management.
01:53Anger Management sees him as a baseball player with anger issues.
01:57Legally blonde Selma Blair joined the show as Dr. Wales.
02:00His character's therapist and friend with benefits.
02:04It's under the right conditions that a therapist and a patient can have both a therapeutic relationship
02:08and a sexual relationship and keep both completely separate.
02:12Sounds like it was written by a therapist who was trying to get in somebody's pants.
02:16This arrangement was even more complicated behind the scenes.
02:19Blair reportedly questioned Sheen's professionalism on set.
02:23Sheen, as star and executive producer, refused to work with her as a result.
02:28Rumors that Sheen would leave the show if his co-star wasn't fired seemed all but confirmed
02:33when Blair was let go during the show's second season.
02:36She was replaced with new characters.
02:39Sheen talked about her firing in interviews, but it was clear that there was no love lost here.
02:43Jenny and Selma, you have.
02:46Oh, uh, I would, I would, I would, yeah, I would like to kind of mash those two up together
02:51and just kind of just do that, just kick them to the curb.
02:54Number 18.
02:55Paulie Perrette and Mark Harmon.
02:58NCIS.
02:59The bond between forensic scientist Abby Schuto and her stoic superior,
03:05special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, is one of NCIS's sweetest relationships.
03:11Unfortunately, that was complicated by allegations of on-set incidents that forced actress Paulie
03:18Perrette to leave the show.
03:20In the years since, Perrette admitted to being afraid of co-star Mark Harmon.
03:25I am not coming back, ever.
03:27Please stop asking.
03:28I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me.
03:31I have nightmares about it.
03:32When Harmon's dog bit a crew member on set, Perrette explains that she stood up for the crew.
03:37She also made vague comments about physical assaults on the set that deterred her from
03:42ever returning.
03:44Although the implication was that the two incidents were linked,
03:47no one involved seems to have publicly commented on the story since.
03:51Tell me how much I've been like a daughter to you, and how much you love me.
04:00Will that help?
04:03No.
04:04Long before she was read on Orange is the New Black, Kate Mulgrew starred as Captain Janeway
04:16of the USS Voyager.
04:18The first time we met a caretaker, we were pulled halfway across the galaxy.
04:22The second time, we were almost killed.
04:24I'm not eager for a third round.
04:26Midway through the show's run, Jerry Ryan was brought on to play a human rescued from the
04:31Borg named Seven of Nine.
04:33Their character's relationship is a highlight of the series, but relations between Mulgrew
04:38and Ryan weren't so wholesome.
04:41Mulgrew was resentful over the inclusion of a character meant to be a sex symbol.
04:46She felt it undermined what she was trying to do with her own strong, capable character.
04:51And right behind the look was the subtext, which was,
04:56why don't you fail because I got a nice man in the wings here.
04:59Because I really, and I just thought, there's no way.
05:02Unfortunately, she took those frustrations out on her co-star.
05:07Mulgrew has since apologized for her behavior and later made peace with Ryan.
05:12Number 16.
05:13William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
05:16Star Trek.
05:17There were longtime rumors that the stars behind Captain Kirk and Spock had some tense interactions.
05:23They were largely friendly for the five decades that succeeded Star Trek.
05:27In fact, they referred to each other as best friends.
05:30Shatner's decision not to attend Nimoy's 2015 funeral sparked rumors of a feud.
05:36Frankly, I was rather dismayed by your use of the term half-breed, Captain.
05:41You must admit, it is an unsophisticated expression.
05:46In his memoirs, Shatner expressed that he did not feel welcome at the funeral,
05:51as the pair had had a falling out in the last years of Nimoy's life.
05:55Apparently, fences had not been mended at the time of his death from COPD.
05:59The exact cause of the rift remains unknown.
06:03I don't know what happened.
06:04He just, uh, he wouldn't answer my calls.
06:07I wrote him a heartfelt letter, uh, saying how much I loved him,
06:12and I wished him well because he was dying.
06:15Number 15.
06:16Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford.
06:19Lethal Weapon.
06:20The switch from big screen to small didn't rob Riggs and Murtagh's friendship of any of its punch.
06:26But apparently, their odd couple chemistry was a little too strong.
06:31Newcomer claimed Crawford's belligerence and unprofessional outbursts on set
06:36earned him enemies, and Damon Wayans was one of them.
06:40Hey, you know, you can talk to me.
06:42Thanks.
06:44I mean, like, right now.
06:46You can talk, and I'm listening.
06:48Variety published footage of Crawford and Wayans
06:51getting into a shouting match on an episode Crawford was directing.
06:56That's not to say Crawford didn't have some defenders on the set,
06:59but his on-screen partner was not one of them.
07:03Crawford was fired after the show's second season.
07:05So I get the name.
07:08Dylan Ashworth.
07:10So did I.
07:11From Rick here, and all I had to do was ask.
07:14Number 14.
07:15Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
07:18Laverne and Shirley.
07:19As some of the most iconic TV BFFs of all time,
07:22it hurts our hearts to hear that, in real life,
07:25Laverne and Shirley were not quite as close at the time.
07:29Williams felt Marshall received favoritism
07:31because her brother was one of the show's creators.
07:33Cindy was understandably alert.
07:37Penny's brother was the boss of the show.
07:41Penny's father was one of the producers of the show.
07:44Marshall was upset when Williams abruptly left the show
07:47after the producers refused to work around her pregnancy.
07:51Marshall blamed Williams' husband, who wanted to be a producer,
07:54for butting in and making a mess of things.
07:57The situation led to discord between the two
08:00that wasn't mended until long after the series finale.
08:03I got pregnant, and, um, it was just time.
08:09I just, I, my priorities started changing.
08:12Thankfully, they were much closer in their later years.
08:16Number 13.
08:17Debra Messing and Megan Mullally.
08:20Will and Grace.
08:21The show may be named for BFFs Will Truman and Grace Adler,
08:25but they're nothing without the nasally,
08:27out-of-touch millionaire Karen Walker.
08:29Unfortunately, Will and Grace had to find that out the hard way.
08:33Mr. High School called because he thinks you're stacked.
08:36Now, if you actually were,
08:38you would understand the effect that they have on men,
08:40but, alas, Mother Nature did not bless you as she did.
08:45When the 11th season was announced as the show's last,
08:49rumors leaked that there were tensions on set.
08:52Megan Mullally and Debra Messing's unfollowing of each other
08:55on Instagram seemed to tell part of the story.
08:58Mullally was also noticeably absent from two episodes
09:02of the revival's final season.
09:04Comments she made on her podcast with husband Nick Offerman
09:07about strife on set had listeners connecting the dots for themselves.
09:11Then this happened.
09:12This week, Megan reportedly posted a mysterious message
09:15about people who aren't good for you,
09:17and also posted and later deleted an Insta story
09:20about feeling the best after she lost her attachment to somebody.
09:23Number 12.
09:24Terry Hatcher and everyone else.
09:26Desperate Housewives.
09:27The wives and mothers of Wisteria Lane have gotten through a lot together.
09:33The same is true off-camera,
09:34but rumor has it the cast's bonds are not quite as unbreakable.
09:39It doesn't mean anything.
09:40Star Terry Hatcher certainly didn't feel the love.
09:43Several sources have since come forward to say that co-stars Eva Longoria,
09:48Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross,
09:50and later series regular Vanessa Williams were chilly towards her.
09:54Apparently, Hatcher distanced herself from the rest of the cast throughout the entire series run.
10:00While the co-stars themselves have remained quiet,
10:02stories from staffers and other crew have essentially confirmed Hatcher's often antisocial behavior.
10:08Who was the co-worker and how were you being bullied?
10:12I had a feeling.
10:17Number 11.
10:18Shannon Doherty and Alyssa Milano.
10:21Charmed.
10:22Prue and Phoebe Halliwell were sisters and besties on screen.
10:26That on-screen chemistry did not translate.
10:29Once you finish your thing and I finish my thing,
10:31then we really need to go meet Piper and Leo to fix the thing that we saw at the thing.
10:36I love you.
10:38I'll be back upstairs.
10:39Okay.
10:39Tensions between Shannon Doherty and Alyssa Milano got so bad that Doherty left Charmed after three seasons.
10:47While she and her team insisted it was voluntary,
10:50she later maintained that co-star Alyssa Milano pressured producers to fire her.
10:54If they didn't, Milano was allegedly going to sue them for creating a hostile work environment.
11:00Milano denied this, but co-star Holly Marie Combs backed up the story on Doherty's podcast in 2023.
11:08And when the producers said,
11:09okay, we will let Shannon go,
11:11Alyssa also had the power to say,
11:13no, I don't want that.
11:15But she did not.
11:16Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the two were able to patch things up
11:19before Doherty's death from cancer in 2024.
11:23Number 10.
11:24Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey
11:26Grey's Anatomy
11:27You know a relationship is fraught when it comes to physical blows.
11:32Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened between Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey
11:36on the set of Grey's Anatomy.
11:38According to Isaiah, Patrick was repeatedly late to the set,
11:42and this led to an intense argument between the two.
11:45During the argument, Washington used a homophobic slur,
11:48and the fight came to physical blows.
11:50Washington was later fired from the show due to his use of the homophobic slur,
11:55although he later found work on The 100, playing Theolonius Jaha.
12:00I'm sorry.
12:00Number 9.
12:01Zendaya and Bella Thorne
12:03Shake it up.
12:04Zendaya and Bella Thorne never came to physical blows like Dempsey and Washington,
12:09but their relationship was still rocky throughout the first season of Shake It Up.
12:13Thorne told J-14 that she and Zendaya were forced to compete against each other during the first season of the show,
12:20and that it made things very awkward between them.
12:23She didn't go into too many details,
12:25so we're not exactly sure what she means by being forced to compete with Zendaya.
12:29But either way, the two sat down and talked through their differences,
12:33ending the hostility and becoming real-life best friends in the process.
12:37Number 8.
12:38Bea Arthur and Betty White
12:40The Golden Girls
12:41It's hard to imagine the adorable Betty White having an enemy,
12:45but she really did not get along with her Golden Girls co-star, Bea Arthur.
12:50Their feud has become a well-known piece of pop culture,
12:54with several interviews throughout the years discussing their animosity towards each other.
12:58I don't know what I ever did.
12:59I don't know, but she was not that thrilled with me.
13:02Bea Arthur's son told Closer that Bea carried the attitude that it was fun to have somebody to be angry at,
13:09and that she directed this hatred towards Betty White.
13:12White also admitted to the village voice that Bea didn't like her,
13:16and found her to be a pain in the neck.
13:18Girl, isn't it wonderful how we always have such a good time together.
13:22While details are scarce,
13:23many believe that their unfriendliness came from personality clashes,
13:27and vast differences in acting style.
13:30Number 7.
13:31Julianna Margulies
13:32And Archie Punjabi
13:33The Good Wife
13:35About midway into The Good Wife's run, a strange thing started happening.
13:39Best friends, Kalinda and Alicia, weren't spending time together.
13:43And when it came time to film Kalinda's final scene with Alicia,
13:47the showmakers were forced to use visual effects trickery to make it appear like they were standing in the same room.
13:53Clearly, something had gone on behind the scenes.
13:56Julianna Margulies
13:57And Archie Punjabi were no longer acting together.
14:00I don't want this.
14:02What mess?
14:04Alicia, I haven't changed.
14:05Critics brought this up to Punjabi at a Television Critics Association conference,
14:10but she only gave a vague response,
14:12saying that she wanted the drama that occurred on set to stay on set.
14:16We can respect that decision, but still, it's frustrating not knowing the deeds.
14:20Well, thank you, jurors.
14:21That ends your service.
14:22We will reconvene on Friday for sentencing.
14:24Good night.
14:24Number 6.
14:26Ariana Grande and Jeanette McCurdy
14:28Sam and Kat
14:29It's amazing what money can do to a friendship.
14:32Sam and Kat collapsed in 2014 after Jeanette McCurdy realized that Ariana Grande
14:38was being paid much more than she was.
14:41Despite being a co-lead,
14:42when people are telling you this person hates you,
14:44then you're just like,
14:45I hate you too,
14:47and you go kind of like crazy.
14:48The series was put on hiatus,
14:51and McCurdy tried renegotiating her contract,
14:54but the entire thing itself fell apart when Nickelodeon cancelled the series.
14:58Later, Jeanette wrote a scathing essay about toxic friendships,
15:01and many readers assumed that the essay was aimed at Ariana.
15:05Jeanette went on to release a web series called
15:08What's Next for Sarah,
15:09which featured the ditzy, self-centered Gloriana,
15:13who bore a striking resemblance to Ariana Grande.
15:16So, how have you been?
15:18What have you been up to now that your show's been cancelled?
15:20That's a super bummer, right?
15:22Most viewers connected those dots.
15:25Number 5.
15:26Lea Michele and Naya Rivera
15:28Glee
15:29From the sounds of things,
15:31Glee was just as dramatic behind the camera as it was in front.
15:34You are short, you are awful,
15:36and that is never going to change.
15:39Rumors of a feud between Lea Michele and Naya Rivera
15:42have persisted on the internet,
15:44leading Naya to address them in her autobiography,
15:48Sorry Not Sorry.
15:49She admits that their friendship broke down throughout the series,
15:53mostly because Lea didn't like sharing the spotlight.
15:56You felt like she was unprofessional.
15:58Definitely.
15:59As you may remember,
16:01Santana became much more pronounced and important
16:04in the later seasons of the show.
16:06She also stated that Lea had trouble digesting criticism
16:09and assumed Naya was bitching about her.
16:12It all culminated in a messy working relationship during season 6,
16:17as Lea refused to talk to Naya off-screen.
16:20This is crazy, we're friends!
16:22Not really.
16:23Number 4.
16:23Blake Lively and Leighton Meester
16:26Gossip Girl
16:27According to the show's executive producer and writer Joshua Safran,
16:32Blake Lively and Leighton Meester were never friends.
16:35In his opinion, their personalities were just too different,
16:38as Blake was lively and personable,
16:40whereas Leighton was quiet and reserved.
16:43And while they never fought or got into heated arguments,
16:47they were never particularly close,
16:49despite their on-screen interactions.
16:51In Safran's own words,
16:53Blake and Leighton were not friends.
16:54No one's gonna believe that.
16:57No one's gonna believe that.
16:58Ah!
17:00While a source later told Perez Hilton that Blake and Leighton did not speak
17:05and continued to stay as far away from each other as possible.
17:09So yeah, that doesn't sound very good.
17:11I think we've seen enough.
17:12Number 3.
17:13Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance
17:16The Lucy Show
17:17Following the iconic I Love Lucy,
17:19both Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance starred in The Lucy Show,
17:23an equally successful sitcom that ran from 1962 to 1968.
17:28Well, there's no point in whispering, dear.
17:30We're all in the same class.
17:32What year was that, honey?
17:35Never mind, Viv.
17:36I'm a full mingle.
17:37Their relationship was relatively harmonious.
17:39That is, until the show's third season,
17:42when Vivian began to grow tired of her weekly cross-country commute
17:46and her ever-deteriorating working relationship with Lucille Ball.
17:50Party of the first part must promise to never dye her hair within five shades either way.
17:56When she then requested more creative control, opportunities, and more money,
18:00her request was denied.
18:02Feeling betrayed, Vance left both the series and Ball behind.
18:06But the actresses would sporadically reunite throughout the years,
18:10until Vance died of bone cancer in 1979.
18:14I consider the years I spent on I Love Lucy
18:16to be, perhaps, the biggest rip-off of my career.
18:22Number 2.
18:23Shannon Doherty and Jenny Garth
18:25Beverly Hills 90210
18:27Shannon Doherty was probably one of the most infamous actresses in the industry,
18:32and her reputation certainly preceded her.
18:34Do you remember Brenda Walsh here?
18:35Remember she used to be your best friend?
18:37Well, we all have our crosses to bear.
18:39Our legs to uncross.
18:41She and Jenny Garth did not get along while filming Beverly Hills 90210,
18:45and Garth told E! News that there were times they wanted to claw each other's eyes out.
18:51Tori Spelling also recounts a time that they had come to physical blows and needed to be separated.
18:57In fact, their relationship grew so toxic that Spelling had her father,
19:01executive producer Aaron Spelling,
19:03write Shannon Doherty off the show.
19:05Luckily, the actresses later settled their differences and became good friends.
19:09Yeah, well, with friends like that, who needs enemies?
19:12Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
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19:26Number 1. Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall
19:31Sex and the City
19:32IRL, Carrie and Samantha were enemies from day one.
19:36According to sources, Sarah didn't like that Kim was getting all the attention,
19:41while the cast quickly gravitated towards Sarah, leaving Kim alone and without an ally.
19:45All about the pheromones, we're all just animals reacting to each other's smell.
19:50Sarah and Kim eventually just stopped speaking to each other,
19:53and Kim was even reluctant to do the movie due to her antagonistic relationship with Sarah.
19:59When Kim's brother passed away in 2018, Sarah offered her condolences, but Kim wasn't having any of it.
20:05She went for Sarah's throat on Instagram, writing,
20:09You're not my family. You are not my friend. Stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your nice girl persona.
20:15So, they're still not friends, then?
20:17You know, that's not the way I recall our experience.
20:21Which of these backstage rivalries shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments.
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