Melissa Joan Hart Was Almost Fired From Sabrina Over Maxim’s “Witch Without a Stitch” Photoshoot.

Summary

• Melissa Joan Hart almost lost her role as Sabrina the Teenage Witch after a racy Maxim magazine photoshoot in 1999.
• Hart’s contract prohibited her from ever portraying her magical character naked, which the Maxim cover suggested.
• Hart is open to the idea of a revival of the show, but it would have to be done right.

It can sometimes be hard for stars of certain shows to tread a line between their squeaky clean characters and their real-life selves. Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Melissa Joan Hart recently recalled finding this out first hand when she was almost fired from her iconic role for appearing in a racy photoshoot for Maxim magazine in 1999.

While audiences have recently been given a much darker and more mature version of Sabrina in Netflix series, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, back in 1996 Sabrina the Teenage Witch was very firmly rooted in the world of a kids’ sitcom. As Hart told the Pod Meets World podcast, it was the actress’ contract on this more innocent version of Sabrina that led to her having what she described as “the worst day of my life.” Describing the day in question, which was the premiere of the Drive Me Crazy movie, Hart explained:

“I was breaking up with a boy that night because I decided I no longer wanted a relationship with him. I had to wait on the red carpet. They wanted me to wait in my car for, like, an hour for Britney [Spears] to show up so we could do photos together. And I was like, ‘Can I just go, start doing the press?’ But nope, You’ve got to wait for Britney.'”

Hart explained that she was subsequently supposed to head off to film a role in the first Scary Movie film, but before she arrived at the airport she was told that he had been dropped from the cast and instead had to attend an after-party at Planet Hollywood. She continued:

“While I’m at the party, my lawyer shows up and goes, ‘You did a photo shoot for Maxim magazine?’ 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.’ So, I get a call on my cell phone from my mother, my producer, who was like, what did you do? And I was like, ‘I don’t know, whatever my publicist told me to do at the photo shoot. I did a photo shoot for Maxim! It’s Maxim, of course you’re gonna be in your underwear.”

It turned out that part of Hart’s contract with Archie Comics, who published the original Sabrina stories, prohibited the actress from ever portraying her magical character naked, and the Maxim cover suggested that fans could see their “favorite witch without a stitch.” Of course this was not quite the case, although the risqué shoot led to Hart having to write an apology for appearing in the magazine.

Related:Melissa Joan Hart’s Biggest Movie And TV Appearances Since Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Melissa Joan Hart Would Reprise Her Role as Sabrina.

ABC

Of course things have moved on since Sabrina the Teenage Witch came to an end in 2003, with Netflix’s darker version of the young witch having proved to be a hugely popular hit, making it unclear how the original version would fare if it was released now. However, there is currently a big trend of nostalgic comebacks happening on both the big and small screen, and with the old show having recently moved to Prime Video, could a revival be on the cards? Hart certainly seems to be up for it.

“I think it would be so much fun to be back with those people. I would want to assemble the same crew and cast. I see the appeal of it, for sure. And I would like to see what kind of storylines they’d come up with, but it would have to be done right. I would say, ‘Never say never.'”

All seven seasons of Sabrina the Teenage Witch is now available on Prime Video, while The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina can be found on Netflix.

You can view the original article HERE.