‘90210’ Alum Christine Elise Apologizes After Calling Jessica Alba a Liar Over Eye Contact Claim

Christine Elise is apologizing after slamming Jessica Alba’s claim that she was not allowed to make eye contact with the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast during her time on the show. Elise, who portrayed Emily Valentine on the iconic teen drama, first addressed Alba’s allegation from her time on Season 8 of the show during Wednesday’s Beverly Hills 90210 Show podcast episode, saying there was “no way” that was true.

“Paul Waigner did say, ‘The girls may not be nice, the guys might not be nice,’ but that’s as bad as it got!” she said of the show’s producer. “That cast is very nice and if they don’t like you, they go away. That whole ‘don’t make eye contact’ is — I’m gonna call it what it is — it’s a f—ing lie.”

Later on Instagram, the actress apologized for calling Alba a “liar,” noting she had “never met her, but [has] always admired her work.” The actress did emphasize that Alba’s recollection “does not sound like the set I was on,” adding that she was both writing for the show and living with fellow cast member and then-boyfriend Jason Priestley at the time, so “any such culture evolved on that set – I feel certain I would be aware of it.”

“Perhaps she was misquoted or the remark was taken out of context but – left unanswered – it implies that the entire cast engaged in unprofessional diva behavior & that they were unwelcoming to guest stars. I think that is an inaccurate & unjust representation of a lot of people I consider to be my friends,” Elise wrote. “The fact remains that maybe someone – an extra or whatever – delivered that warning to her. That does not mean it was, in fact, something the cast demanded.”

Alba shared her 90210 experience during a new episode of Hot Ones. “On the set of 90210, I couldn’t even make eye contact with any of the cast members, which was really strange when you’re, like, trying to do a scene with them,” she said. “It was like, ‘You’re not allowed to make eye contact with any one of the cast members or you’ll be thrown off the set.’”

Several of the show’s stars, including Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Priestly, Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering have all addressed Alba’s claims since then, denying that they knew of any policy permitting eye contact with them. Garth and Spelling said on their 90210MG iHeartRadio podcast they wondered “if there was some cool memo that was like going around from the producers or the ADs and we didn’t even know.” Spelling added she was “horrified” to hear Alba’s experience was negative.

“I don’t know what Jessica Alba‘s experience was coming on our show as a guest star. I know that certainly I never would have made her feel that way,” Priestley said on KiSS 92.5’s The Roz & Mocha Show. “I don’t even think I worked with her. … But I’m sorry that that happened to her and it seems really incongruous with everything else that happened on our show.”