Jaime Pressly has joined former “Mom” co-star Anna Faris in responding to show co-creator Chuck Lorre’s professional criticism.
In his recent memoir “Sitcom,” Lorre wrote that he “was, in fact, right” to be hesitant to cast Faris as the lead character, Christy Plunkett. Pressly, who joined the CBS sitcom in its second season as recovering addict Jill Kendall, came to the defense of her “incredible cast of women” co-stars.
“I was there for seven years, but there [were] eight seasons,” Pressly told E! News. “I came on in the second season, but I had seven wonderful years of working with an incredible crew and an incredible cast of women, who were, all of us, just as beautifully flawed as our characters on the show were.”
“And I think I just really thoroughly enjoyed being able to go to work with girlfriends every day,” she added. “All of us of a certain age, it was nice. It was refreshing.”
Faris left “Mom” in 2020 ahead of its final season. At the time, she said she wanted to open herself up to other opportunities.
“I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” Lorre wrote in his book. “Then I thought about how badly I’d bungled my working relationship with Charlie Sheen.” Lorre and Sheen had a public feud toward the end of “Two and a Half Men,” which led to the actor being fired from the hit sitcom in 2011.
“As the years went by, it became apparent that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was, in fact, correct,” Lorre added about Faris. “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.”
Faris addressed Lorre’s comments on Instagram on Oct. 15: “Of course it hurts. Chuck gave me a job I loved, and for seven years I never took a day of it for granted. I’m proud of what we made together, and nothing changes how grateful I am for those people and those years.”
She continued, “I’ve been sober for a year and a half. I was on a show about recovery and then I lived it. Now I’m healthy, I’m working, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
After Faris left the show, Pressly starred as the main lead in the final season. “Mom” also starred Allison Janney, Mimi Kennedy, Beth Hall and Kristen Johnston.