Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty wins insurance lawsuit amid cancer battle
Beverly Hills 90210 actor Shannen Doherty has won a lawsuit against an insurance company as she continues to battle stage four breast cancer.
Doherty, 50, has been awarded $US6.3 million ($8.7 million) after suing an insurance company for fire damage to her California home.
Doherty’s Malibu property was one of 364 damaged in wildfires in November 2018. Another 1643 houses were destroyed, and three people died.
Doherty said State Farm Insurance offered her just two weeks of coverage for a temporary shelter while her house was being cleaned up – leaving her to pay for the damages.
She also said her breast cancer treatment meant she could not be exposed to smoke or smoke-damaged property, leading her to also cover expenses for rental accommodation.
A California jury found the insurer’s failure to cover the damages was “unreasonable and without proper cause.”
The court victory came just days after Doherty shared an emotional update about her heart-breaking health battle.
The 50-year-old told Good Morning America that, although she was battling stage four metastatic breast cancer, she was still doing her best to enjoy life.
“I’m living life, I’m spending a lot of time with friends and family and working,” she said.
“I think work was always very fulfilling to me but, in a way, it’s become even more fulfilling.
Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. After rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, she announced she was in remission in April 2017.
The cancer returned in 2019 at stage four, unbeknown to many of Doherty’s colleagues.
While having treatment, Doherty simultaneously filmed with the Beverly Hills cast to reprise her role as Brenda Walsh in the series reboot.
Shannon Doherty (far right) with the cast of Beverly Hills 90210 in a Season 1 promotional shoot. Photo: AAP
Shannen Doherty holds hands with Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Brian Austin Green at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in 2019. Photo: AAP
She has continued to work on projects and has two Lifetime movies due to be released this month: Dying to Belong and List of a Lifetime.
Doherty said it was important to her to prove that cancer didn’t necessarily limit the ability to work.
“A lot of people who get diagnosed with stage four [cancer], they sort of get written off.”
“Its assumed that [people with cancer] cannot work or can’t work at their full capacity, and that is not true,” she said.
“That is something that I would like people to stop assuming and give us a chance to prove them wrong.”
In List of a Lifetime, Doherty plays a woman terminally ill with breast cancer who seeks to reconnect with a daughter she gave up for adoption.
Doherty shared a preview for the movie on Instagram, along with a message of strength: “A breast cancer diagnosis isn’t the end of your life. I am living proof of that.”
