Brian Austin Green Praises ‘Strong’ Shannen Doherty Amid Cancer Battle

Brian Austin Green has praised his “strong” friend Shannen Doherty, amid her ongoing cancer battle. Recently, Green and Doherty attended 90s Con in Tampa, Florida with their former fellow Beverly Hills, 90210 castmates Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering, and Jennie Garth. During the event, Doherty revealed that the cancer had spread to her bones, to which the crowd gave her standing ovation of applause to show support. “Thank you so much,” a tearful Doherty said. “You guys know how much I love crying constantly. And I do, it seems. So, thank you.”

Later, while speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Green spoke highly of Doherty and her willingness to be candid with her fans about her cancer battle. “She’s strong, she’s honest, she just perseveres. She gets through whatever’s going on and even if it’s hard she will share that,” he said. “I think it benefits people that are around her to see somebody going through a difficult situation and still keeping her head up.”

These comments echo what Green said back in September when asked about his former castmate. Speaking to the Herald Sun, Green shared, “She’s an incredibly tough person. If there’s anyone who could put up a real fight to cancer – she’s one of them.” He added, “It’s not an easy situation, obviously, but I love her to death.”

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2015, but after treatments and surgery, she announced in 2017 that her cancer was in remission. In February 2020 she revealed that her cancer had returned. Regarding how she’d been coping with the news that it returned, Doherty said at the time, “I definitely have days where I say ‘Why me.’ And then I go, ‘Well, why not me? Who else? Who else besides me deserves this?’ None of us do. But I would say that my first reaction is always concern about how — how am I going to tell my mom, my husband.”

Earlier this year, Doherty revealed the tragic update that her cancer had spread. In an Instagram post, she shared a video of her treatment, which required that she wear a special medical mask. In the post caption, Doherty explained the process and clarified that it was necessary due to the cancer spreading. “Yesterdays video was showing the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation to your brain. January 12, the first round of radiation took place.”

She went on to add, “My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life. I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin Mirahdi and the amazing techs at cedar sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like.”