25 Infamous TV Co-Star Feuds, From Sex and the City to The X-Files
Many times in TV history, the casts of our favorite shows have gotten along like one big, happy family. But not every time.
The long hours and high pressure involved in TV production have led to some explosive fights between co-stars over the years, and some of those have even spilled over into the public eye, with actors taking shots at each other in the press. It’s a tale as old as time, with ugly rifts dating back to the days of Star Trek, Moonlighting and Married… With Children and continuing into the present day with still-running shows like Grey’s Anatomy and American Idol.
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We’re digging up all the dirt and looking back at 25 times that TV co-stars clashed, including infamous feuds from beloved hits like Sex and the City, The X-Files, Seinfeld, Friends, ER and more. We don’t traffic in idle gossip, though, so we made sure to carefully document each of these feuds with verified quotes from the parties involved. (So if there’s a feud you’re expecting to see listed here that we didn’t include, well, that’s why.)
Read on to get the scoop on the most notable instances of on-set friction we unearthed from decades of television lore, and then hit the comments to share your own recollections of strife between TV cast members.
Kiefer Sutherland and Freddie Prinze Jr., 24
Working with the man behind Jack Bauer was, well, like torture for Prinze Jr. “It was terrible. I hated every moment of it,” Prinze Jr., who played agent Cole Ortiz in Season 8 of the Fox terrorist thriller, bluntly said years later, adding that Sutherland “was the most unprofessional dude in the world… I think everyone that’s worked with him has said that.” Prinze Jr. even revealed that his time on the show made him want to “quit the business.” So we’re guessing he’s not showing up for any future revivals, huh?
Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, American Idol
These divas definitely did not harmonize when they were paired up as judges for Season 12 of the smash hit singing competition. The bad buzz started almost immediately, with a leaked video of Minaj reportedly hurling obscenities and threatening violence against Carey, with Carey later complaining of an “unsafe” work environment. The insults flew back and forth — an Idol source quipped that “Mariah doesn’t think Nicki can sing and doesn’t think she should be judging folks” — and Minaj labeled Carey “insecure” and “bitter” in a Twitter rant. After the season wrapped, Carey admitted she “hated” being on Idol, comparing it to “going to work every day in hell with Satan.” It’s no surprise, then, that neither of them returned to Idol the following season.
Charlie Sheen and Selma Blair, Anger Management
The anger was very real on the set of Sheen’s FX sitcom, with Blair abruptly exiting the series midway through Season 2 after reports that she complained about Sheen’s lack of work ethic, which led to Sheen allegedly refusing to shoot with her. (One report even had Sheen firing Blair himself via text.) Production company Lionsgate simply said that “Selma Blair will not be returning to Anger Management, and we wish her the very best.” Laura Bell Bundy took over as the show’s female lead… but Anger Management still called it quits after its second season wrapped.
Jeffrey Tambor and Jessica Walter, Arrested Development
They played warring spouses George Sr. and Lucille Bluth on Fox’s Emmy-winning sitcom, and unfortunately, there was no peace when the cameras stopped rolling, either. Walter revealed in 2018 that Tambor had verbally abused her while shooting: “In like almost 60 years of working, I’ve never had anybody yell at me like that on a set.” Tambor did apologize, Walter said, and she maintained she “would work with him again in a heartbeat,” but the revelation cast a further pall over an already dreary Netflix revival.
Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth, Beverly Hills, 90210
This iconic Fox teen drama had plenty of drama behind the scenes as well. Doherty, who played Brenda Walsh, famously left the show after Season 4, and Garth, who played Brenda’s friend Kelly Taylor, revealed in her memoir that they didn’t always get along: “There were times when we loved each other, and there were times when we wanted to claw each other’s eyes out.” Garth chalked up the feud to astrology: “Shannen and I are both Aries women. We’re both very strong, independent women, so we butt heads a lot.” But they later mended fences, and “as grown women, we happen to get along as well,” Garth noted.
Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Oh, so the happily married couple at the center of the long-running ABC sitcom wasn’t actually happy? Well, they weren’t at first: It all dates back to when the pair co-hosted the Vibe Awards in 2005 and Anderson cracked a joke at Ross’ expense. “Tracee didn’t like me for maybe 10 years,” he later admitted. “She really didn’t start liking me until we were midway through the first season of black-ish.” But they eventually patched things up, and black-ish went on to run for eight seasons. “We laugh about it now,” Anderson says.
Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano, Charmed
Following her departure from 90210, Doherty reteamed with producer Aaron Spelling for this WB favorite, playing witchy sister Prue Halliwell alongside Milano as Phoebe and Holly Marie Combs as Piper. Doherty left the show after Season 3, though, saying, “There was too much drama on the set and not enough passion for the work.” Milano later said, “I can tell you that we were on the air with [Doherty] for three years, and there were definitely some rough days.” They settled their differences years later when Doherty was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, but sadly, the feud flared back up earlier this year when the two publicly disagreed about what really led to Doherty’s exit.
Chevy Chase and… well, everyone, Community
Chase’s prickly persona as elderly coed Pierce Hawthorne on the NBC college comedy wasn’t just an act, it turns out. He managed to annoy and/or offend several of his co-stars, getting into physical fights with Joel McHale and allegedly using racial slurs in front of Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown. Chase ultimately left the show in Season 4, and the whole cast is now set to return for a reunion movie on Peacock — minus Chase.
Teri Hatcher and Nicollette Sheridan, Desperate Housewives
Rumors of a rift between Wisteria Lane’s leading ladies constantly swirled around the hit ABC drama — remember the infamous Vanity Fair photo shoot? — and they were confirmed by series creator Marc Cherry when he recounted a Season 1 incident while testifying in court: “There was a problem going on between Nicollette Sheridan and Teri Hatcher. They were furious at each other. Nicollette pulled me aside and told me that Teri Hatcher was the meanest woman in the world because of how she was acting.” Sheridan’s character Edie was killed off in Season 5, with Hatcher’s character Susan remaining for all eight.
Noah Wyle and Goran Visnjic, ER
Pulses were racing on the set of NBC’s medical drama — and tempers were flaring, too. Wyle, who debuted as doctor John Carter in the freshman season, admits now that he was tough on new cast members: “I had a chip on my shoulder with anybody that came on that show… We were really hard on people.” He says he owes co-star Kellie Martin “a big apology,” but he was hardest on Visnjic, who joined the cast in Season 6 as Dr. Luka Kovac. “I realized that he was a way better actor than I was… I hated him because I always felt like I was losing a scene to him.”
Will Smith and Janet Hubert, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
This feud got so heated that one of them had to leave the show: Hubert played Will’s Aunt Viv on the NBC sitcom for the first three seasons, but she exited the show amid turmoil at home and a contract dispute, blaming Smith for “banishing” her from the set. (Daphne Maxwell Reid took over as Aunt Viv in Season 4.) Smith later admitted that “I can see where I made the set very difficult for Janet,” and the two had an emotional reunion in 2020 on Max’s Fresh Prince anniversary special.
David Schwimmer and Marcel the monkey, Friends
Ross loved his simian pal in the early years of the NBC sitcom, but Schwimmer wasn’t exactly singing him lullabies off-camera. “I hate the monkey,” Schwimmer revealed at the height of the show’s popularity. “The trainers won’t let me bond with it… It’s a bummer.” The problem, as Schwimmer later explained: Marcel — played by two female capuchin monkeys — was trained to hit specific marks in a scene, and “we’d have to go again, because the monkey didn’t get it right.” The show’s animal trainer, though, defended Marcel, countering that Schwimmer was “a little jealous” of all the laughs the monkey was getting.
John Stamos and Bob Saget, Full House
The Olsen twins weren’t the only co-stars who got on Stamos’ nerves while shooting ABC’s family-friendly TGIF staple. “Bob is the humblest egomaniac I’ve ever met, but he undercuts his narcissism by being so damn lovable,” Stamos recounted in his 2023 memoir If You Would Have Told Me, adding that he didn’t think Saget was right for the role of Danny Tanner at first because he was a stand-up comic and not an actor: “Bob and I tolerate each other and attempt to avoid interfering with each other’s creative processes, though it can be challenging.” Stamos also begged his agent to “get me the f—k off this show” after the first table read, but he’s glad he stuck around: Full House ran for eight seasons, and Stamos and Saget reunited on the Netflix sequel series Fuller House.
Lea Michele and Naya Rivera, Glee
There was fierce competition to get the solos on Fox’s teen musical, and that competition carried over onto the set as well, with co-stars Michele and Rivera rubbing each other the wrong way. Rivera revealed in her memoir that things would get “heated” between her and Michele on set, adding that Michele “didn’t like sharing the spotlight” and “blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong.” She insisted, though, that she didn’t “hate Lea, and I never have,” and Michele paid sweet tribute to her when Rivera passed away in a tragic drowning accident in 2020.
Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo, Grey’s Anatomy
Working with the man who played McDreamy was more of a nightmare, according to several people who worked on the show. “He sort of was terrorizing the set,” former executive producer James D. Parriott revealed in a tell-all book, adding that “he and [series creator] Shonda [Rhimes] were at each other’s throats.” Dempsey’s leading lady Pompeo was reportedly fed up, too: “There were times where Ellen was frustrated with Patrick, and she would get angry that he wasn’t working as much,” former EP Jeannine Renshaw recalled.
Bea Arthur and Betty White, The Golden Girls
All those savage insults that Dorothy hurled at her birdbrained roommate Rose may not have been that far from the truth. Though they co-starred as pals on the hit NBC comedy, Arthur and White definitely had friction. “She was not that fond of me. She found me a pain in the neck sometimes,” White later admitted, adding that her “positive attitude… made Bea mad sometimes.” Arthur’s son Matthew Saks conceded that White’s habit of chatting with the studio audience between takes “rubbed my mom the wrong way.” Plus, in co-star Rue McClanahan’s memoir, she recalled that Arthur was angry when White was the first Golden Girls cast member to win an Emmy. Can’t we settle this over a nice slice of cheesecake?
Ed O’Neill and Amanda Bearse, Married… With Children
Al Bundy delighted in getting under the skin of his next-door neighbor Marcy — and that animosity wasn’t just for the cameras. O’Neill and Bearse clashed often while shooting the raunchy Fox sitcom, with him later recalling “a big fight” they had in front of the cast and crew where Bearse called him “a bully” and O’Neill called her “miserable.” He then pointed out that he had more clout than her: “I have a button I can push [that] says, ‘Get rid of Amanda Bearse.’ You don’t have a button that says, ‘Get rid of Ed O’Neill.’” He never did push that button, though: Bearse remained with the show for all 11 seasons.
Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, Martin
This is the rare TV feud that actually resulted in a lawsuit: Campbell, who played girlfriend Gina on the Fox sitcom opposite Lawrence’s title character, left the show in its final season and sued Lawrence for sexual harassment and verbal abuse. (She did return for a pair of episodes before the series wrapped, but only on the condition that she and Lawrence not share scenes.) The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Lawrence and Campbell have since buried the hatchet, reuniting for the 2022 BET+ special Martin: The Reunion.
Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, Moonlighting
These two made a volatile pair as private eyes David and Maddie on the groundbreaking ABC hit, and it’s well-established by now that it was just as volatile behind the scenes. “At one point in the show, it had gotten to where we just hated each other,” Shepherd admitted, and co-star Allyce Beasley (aka rhyming receptionist Agnes DiPesto) recalled: “Cybill and Bruce were very unhappy, and it was very hard to be around.” Willis and Shepherd, though, now look back fondly on their days at the Blue Moon detective agency, and they reunited decades later to record commentaries for the Moonlighting DVD release.
Tim Allen and Casey Wilson, The Santa Clauses
Wilson made a guest appearance in the first episode of Disney+’s continuation of the Santa Clause movies… and that was enough for her. “Tim Allen was such a bitch,” she later revealed, adding that “it was the truly single worst experience I’ve ever had with a co-star ever.” Wilson claimed that Allen “was so f—king rude… Never made eye contact, never said anything. It was so uncomfortable.” Yep, she’s definitely getting coal in her stocking.
Jason Alexander and Heidi Swedberg, Seinfeld
The abrupt death of George’s fiancée Susan in the Season 7 finale may have been a result of the cast’s difficulty working with Swedberg, who recurred as Susan. Alexander, who played George, revealed years later that “I couldn’t figure out how to play off of her,” adding that their comedy instincts “were always misfiring.” Co-stars Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus agreed that Swedberg was “f—king impossible” to work with, Alexander added, and when Louis-Dreyfus joked about killing Susan off, co-creator Larry David took that as inspiration for the character’s demise. (Alexander later apologized to Swedberg, saying that the actress was “generous and gracious, and I am so mad at myself for retelling this story in any way that would diminish her.”)
Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City
These two may have shared cosmos on the hit HBO comedy as pals Carrie and Samantha, but they apparently didn’t share much when the cameras stopped rolling. Rumors of tension between the two stars dogged the later seasons of the show and the two SATC movies, and in 2017, Cattrall admitted she and Parker have “never been friends” and blamed Parker for Cattrall being labeled a diva in the press: “I really think she could’ve been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is.” The rift led to a third movie getting scrapped and Cattrall not being included in the Max revival And Just Like That. Samantha did drop by for a brief Season 2 cameo… but only by telephone.
William Shatner and George Takei, Star Trek
One of the longest-running cast feuds in TV history started on this trailblazing sci-fi classic, with Shatner and Takei — who played Captain Kirk and Lt. Sulu, respectively — exchanging snipes for decades. They didn’t get along then, and they don’t get along now, with Takei labeling Shatner “a prima donna” and “a cantankerous old man” in a recent interview, adding that “none of us” got along with him on the original Trek. Shatner, for his part, has fired back that “George has never stopped blackening my name. These people are bitter and embittered. I have run out of patience with them.”
Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley, The Vampire Diaries
Dobrev and co-star Ian Somerhalder struck up a real-life romance while playing Elena and Damon on The CW’s supernatural hit — but with the other Salvatore brother, not so much. “Paul and I didn’t get along at the beginning of the show,” Dobrev later admitted: “There’s a fine line between love and hate, and we despised each other so much that it read as love.” Wesley agreed, revealing that “when we first started shooting The Vampire Diaries, we totally clashed… Creatively, it just wasn’t in sync.” But now it’s all good between them, Dobrev reports: “Of everyone, I think I probably see him the most and hang out with him the most… We’re really good friends.”
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, The X-Files
While they smoldered on screen together as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully on Fox’s sci-fi sensation, there were times that Duchovny and Anderson wanted to be on separate planets. “There were definitely periods when we hated each other,” Anderson later admitted, while Duchovny remembered that “we used to argue about nothing. We couldn’t stand the sight of each other.” They worked it out, though, long enough to reunite for a Fox revival in 2016, and a photo of them hanging out as pals went viral in 2021.
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