Melissa Joan Hart (left) and Britney Spears.Photo:Astrida Valigorsky/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Astrida Valigorsky/Getty; Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Melissa Joan Hartis sharing some insight into a teary-eyed photo she once took withBritney Spears.
During an appearance on thePod Meets Worldpodcast, the 47-year-old actress revealed that her decision topose inMaximmagazineback in 1999 nearly led to her getting kicked off of her hit television show,Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Hart was attending the premiere for her movieDrive Me Crazywhen she received a phone call from her lawyer and had what she called the “worst day of my life.”
“My lawyer shows up and goes, ‘You did a photo shoot forMaximmagazine?’” she recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yes, I did.’ They’re like, ‘Well, you’re being sued and fired from your show. So don’t talk to the press. Don’t do anything.’”
The actress shared that she answered another phone call from her mother and her producer who began questioning her after they got word that she was gettingbooted from the sitcomafter posing in her underwear.
In a series of unfortunate events, Hart claimed that the producers responsible for her movie “flipped out” and let her go. Crying and confused, she found comfort in her dad, who enveloped her in a hug despite him not usually being “warm and cuddly.”
Caroline Rhea (left) with Melissa Joan Hart (center) and Beth Broderick on ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’.Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
“He lived in New York while I lived in LA so he wasn’t really around for the emotional stuff, and he comes up to me and goes, ‘You OK?’ I was like, ‘No!'” she recalled.
“I’m like crying even harder because my daddy’s hugging me,” she continued. “I’m being fired from my show. I was just fired from the movie. I just broke up with my boyfriend.”
It was at some point during that chaos that Hart posed with Spears, 41, for a photo. Spears was at the event because she sang her hit, “(You Drive Me) Crazy,” for the film’s soundtrack.
Despite the hubbub around herMaximphoto shoot, the actress continued to star inSabrina the Teenage Witch.
“Nothing came of it,” she explained on the podcast. “But of course, in the moment, I didn’t know what was going on.”
Hart playedthe titular characterinSabrina the Teenage Witchfrom 1996 to 2003. The series followed a teenage girl named Sabrina who learns of her magical lineage and wakes up with magical powers on her 16th birthday.
Melissa Joan Hart on ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
OnPod Meets World, theMelissa & Joeystar explained that threats of kicking her off the show were soon dropped after production legally had “no ground to stand on.”
As it turned out, the magazine had used the Archie comics character name on the cover instead of Hart’s actual name without approval, which created the chaos.
“What happened was the magazine wrote ‘Sabrina, your favorite witch without [a stitch]…’” she explained. “I’d never heard of someone being on the cover of a magazine and not using their name, they used Sabrina.”
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source: people.com
