Millennials grew up with some iconic faces in our time. After school, when we weren’t watching cartoons, we tuned in to relatable teenage sitcoms and dramas like “Keenan & Kel,” “Sister, Sister” and the like. One of our favorites was “Sabrina: The Teenage Witch.” It took a classic teen sitcom format, and gave it a magical twist. How does a young witch coming into her powers navigate the already difficult shores of teendome? But did you know that star Melissa Joan Heart was almost fired from the role?
It wasn’t actually her fault. But let’s back up.
Heart recently talked about her days filming the series. In what was a shock during the nineties, Heart did a photoshoot for Maxim. During a party, she was suddenly accosted by her lawyer. “While I’m at my party that’s at Planet Hollywood, some of my clothes were being dedicated there,” Heart told “Pod Meets World.” “My lawyer shows up and goes, ‘You did a photoshoot for Maxim magazine? You’re being sued and fired from your show, so don’t talk to the press, don’t do anything.”
Bureaucracy Almost Cost Her the Job
At the time, Heart had been encouraged to do the shoot by her publicist. The issue wasn’t because she was posing in sexy underwear. The 1999 photoshoot was intended to promote Heart’s upcoming movie, “Drive Me Crazy.” But rather than use her own name, Maxim printed their cover with the title “Sabrina, your favorite witch without a stitch.” Maxim’s ‘clever’ title almost cost Heart her job as Sabrina, as her contract stated she could not “perform nude as the character.”
In order to keep her job, Heart had to write an apology letter. Despite the fact that it was Maxim’s fault for their cover. Double standard much? We’re glad to say she did NOT lose the magical gig, and the publicity garnered from the shoot was perfect for her upcoming film.
You can listen to the full episode of “Pod Meets World” here. Catch classic episodes of “Sabrina The Teenage Witch” on PlutoTV and Prime Video.
