Shannen Doherty Reveals She Went In For Brain Surgery After She Found Out Her Husband Had An Affair: “My Marriage Was Essentially Over”

Shannen Doherty launched her podcast Let’s Be Clear this week with an explosive revelation. The Charmed actress claims she found out her husband of 14 years was having an affair right before she went in for brain surgery.

“I filed for divorce this year, 2023. I had brain surgery in 2023 as well,” she said. “I went into that surgery early in the morning, and I went in after I found out that my marriage was essentially over—that my husband had been carrying on an affair for two years.”

Doherty filed for divorce from photographer Kurt Iswarienko, her husband of 14 years, earlier this year amid her ongoing battle with cancer.

She went on to explain that he still wanted to be there for her while she had the procedure done, but she refused. “I felt so betrayed,” she said. “At the end of the day, I just felt so incredibly unloved by someone I was with for 14 years—by someone that I loved with all my heart.”

The actress also opened up about her own reaction to the news of his affair, which seemed to surprise her.

“I have always said from the beginning, ‘If you cheat on me, you’re out,’” she said. “I didn’t walk away right away. I couldn’t. I was so confused, and I was also on steroids and a lot of stuff from brain surgery.” She also revealed that she spoke to “the girlfriend of two years,” adding, that it could be “a whole ‘nother episode.”

Doherty recently announced that her stage four breast cancer has spread to her bones, though she maintained that she is “not done with living.” She is still undergoing treatment and plans to join more clinical trials if they become available.

Speaking to People, the actress expressed that she has no plans of slowing down, hence the release of her newest venture, her podcast Let’s Be Clear.

“People just assume that it means you can’t walk, you can’t eat, you can’t work. They put you out to pasture at a very early age — ‘You’re done, you’re retired,’ and we’re not,” she said of getting a cancer diagnosis. “We’re vibrant, and we have such a different outlook on life. We are people who want to work and embrace life and keep moving forward.”

Iswarienko was Doherty’s third husband. On her podcast, as she opened up about the trials of recovering from cancer while experiencing marital issues, she confessed, “It was embarrassing.”

“I am horrified that I can’t keep a relationship together,” she said. “I think it is a reflection me, although this one… I think it’s on him.”