Shannen Doherty‘s mother Rosa Doherty is making sure her daughter’s legacy continues.
Rosa shared in the latest episode of her daughter’s Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty podcast that she will be continuing the podcast after Shannen’s death on July 13 at the age of 53 after living with cancer for many years.
“I am now going to be doing my best to try to continue this for her because that’s what we discussed that she wanted me to do,” Rosa shared on the podcast in an Aug. 15 episode titled, “Let’s Be Clear…Continues.”
“And, of course, I’m not her. I could never be her. I’m not as well spoken as she was,” she added. “But, I’m here for all of you, and I hope you’re all here for me.”
The mother of the Charmed actress also shared how important the podcast became to her daughter, especially throughout her cancer battle. The late actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and shared in April 2017 that she had gone into remission.
Shannen Doherty/Instagram
The cancer had returned by 2019, however, and Doherty publicly announced her diagnosis of metastatic stage 4 cancer in 2020. Several years later, in June of 2023, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her brain and that she had undergone surgery. In a PEOPLE cover story in November 2023, she then shared that the cancer had spread to her bones.
“This podcast meant so much to Shannon, because it allowed her to tell her story and tell her truth,” Rosa said. “And over the years, there’s been so many stories and untruths and things mixed up that it was just finally she says, ‘I wanna do this, and I have so many people that have followed me over the years and and have supported me, and I just want to give them the opportunity to hear what my life really is.’
“And that was part of the reason for this podcast,” she explained. “And it meant, so much to me because I got to watch her do this when it was so special for her and needed. It helped her so much in everything that she was going through.”
Doherty’s longtime publicist Leslie Sloane confirmed her death in a statement to PEOPLE on July 14, saying that the actress “lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease” on Saturday, July 13.
Following the news, Rosa issued a statement to PEOPLE saying, “She is my beautiful girl and my heart. Our family wants to thank everyone who has shown love and support for our Shannen throughout her life. We are truly appreciative.”
Shannen has previously credited her mom for showing her how to push through hard times. In November 2023, the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum opened up to PEOPLE about her mom’s brain aneurysm when Shannen was 8.
“I come from a woman who was determined,” she said at the time. “She impressed that upon me as a very young child like, ‘You don’t give up. You just have to work hard at it.’ ”
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Rosa herself shared on the latest episode of the podcast that she would continue to ensure that her daughter’s legacy and message continued, despite being a little “shy” at first taking over the Let’s Be Clear podcast.
“As I get along down the road, it’ll get better. I know it’ll get better,” Rosa said, before reiterating the importance of continuing the podcast.
“Her legacy will be the love that she gave to everybody that she knew and the love that she gave to people that she didn’t know,” she added. “And I think that’s her legacy, that people actually and even more so now they’re realizing what a wonderful, kind, and warm human being she was.”
The description of the episode echoed Rosa’s comments on the podcast itself, as well as noting that she was joined by a close friend of the late actress on “Let’s Be Clear…Continues.”
“Shannen wanted her podcast to be a space where people could find love, laughter, and healing. Who better to fulfill Shannen’s vision than her mom, Mama Rosa,” the description read, adding that Shannen’s mom was joined on the episode “by one of Shannen’s closest friends Anne Marie Kortright.”
“Together, they offer the same appreciation and affection Shannen shared with you all these months,” it concluded.
