Shannen Doherty discussed her final wishes, including planning her own funeral and curating the guest list, in the latest episode of her podcast.
The conversation, described as “morbid” yet “fun,” involved her best friend and the executor of her will, Chris Cortazzo.
Shannen Doherty Plans To Leave ‘Fake’ People Off Her Funeral Guest List
Ever since Doherty received and announced her initial breast cancer diagnosis in 2015, she has been transparent about her journey, including her IVF struggles and the creation of her “bucket list.”
Thus, it was no surprise when she touched on the subject of the disease resulting in her death and funeral during a recent episode of her podcast, “Let’s Be Clear with Shannen Doherty.”
In a candid moment on the show, the actress confessed, “I’m horrible at funerals. I don’t know if anybody is actually good at funerals, but I am the girl who, like, literally sobs. I can’t handle it.”
With her perspective in mind, the 52-year-old envisions her memorial service as less somber and more of a lively house party. However, she prefers a more intimate guest list, embracing the idea that less is more. She expressed her desire for a selective guest list, stating:
“There’s a lot of people that I think would show up that I don’t want there. I don’t want them there because their reasons for showing up aren’t necessarily the best reasons, like, they don’t really like me, and, you know, they have their reasons, and good for them, but they don’t actually really like me enough to show up to my funeral.”
The “90210” alum elaborated, “But they will because it’s the politically correct thing to do, and they don’t want to look bad, so I kinda want to take the pressure off them. I want my funeral to be like a love fest. I don’t want people to be crying or privately thinking, ‘Thank God that b— is dead now.’”
In response, Cortazzo humorously requested a list of those to invite to the festivities, prompting her friend to playfully quip, “That’s the shorter, that’s the better list. I can’t give you a list of who I don’t want because that’s way too long.”
Later in the conversation, Doherty provided more insight into why certain people will not be invited, saying that she was referring to “people that just really don’t like me.”
She doubled down on her point, claiming that she detests “fakeness” and cannot “stand people who want to all of a sudden pretend that they found Jesus and they’re so sorry and they repent and they didn’t mean anything bad that they said about you, blah, blah, blah. I can’t stand that.”
Doherty maintained her stance that those people were “still the exact human being” who needed to “stay away” from and “just ignore” her in public.
Doherty’s Cancer Returning Sparked Her Interest In Finding Her ‘Bigger Purpose In Life’
Doherty’s discussion about her funeral plans occurred shortly after she disclosed the spread of her cancer to her brain that resulted in metastasizing to her bones. The Blast noted that she passionately expressed her resilience via social media:
“I don’t want to die. I’m not done with living. I’m not done with loving. I’m not done with creating. I’m not done with hopefully changing things for the better. I’m just not — I’m not done.”
Doherty revealed that her cancer diagnosis profoundly impacted her outlook on life, leading her to seek a deeper sense of purpose.
“When you ask yourself, ‘Why me? Why did I get cancer?’ and then ‘Why did my cancer come back? Why am I stage 4?,’ that leads you to look for the bigger purpose in life,” the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” star explained.
Doherty, reflecting on her journey, declared that her “greatest memory is yet to come” and shared how she often prays “for the things that matter to me without asking for too much.”
The one-time “Dancing with the Stars” contestant also delved into the impact of living with cancer on her perspective:
“I know it sounds cheesy and crazy, but you’re just more aware of everything, and you feel so blessed. We’re the people who want to work the most because we’re just so grateful for every second, every hour, every day we get to be here.”