Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis

Shannen Doherty‘s fight is not over.

Five years after her initial breast cancer diagnosis, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum sat down with ABC News to share a heartbreaking health update. “It’s going to come out in a matter of days or a week that I have stage 4,” she shared. “So my cancer came back and that’s why I’m here.”

The 48-year-old revealed she’s privately been battling the disease for more than a year, secretly keeping the diagnosis to herself while filming the BH90210 reboot. “I don’t think that I’ve processed it,” she said. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow in a lot of ways. I definitely have days where I say, ‘Why me?’ And then I go, ‘Well why not me? Who else? Who else beside me deserves this?’ None of us do. I would say that my first reaction is always concern about how am I going to tell my mom, my husband.”

Her decision to speak out comes amid an ongoing lawsuit with insurance company State Farm, who she is suing for damage done to her home in the 2018 Los Angeles wildfires. Court documents that are set to be released later this week will detail her health ahead of the trial. 

“I’d rather people here it from me,” Doherty said. “I don’t want it to be twisted. I don’t want it to be a court document. I want it to be real and authentic. I want to control the narrative. I want people to know from me.”

According to the star, the insurance company should have paid for more of the damages that she covered out of pocket. “You walked into the house and it just reeked of smoke,” she said. “I tried, I communicated with my insurance company. I called, I got passed around from claims adjuster to claims adjuster. I ended up suing State Farm. The result has been one of the most horrific processes I have ever been through.”