Melissa Joan Hart was almost fired from Sabrina because of a photoshoot

Melissa Joan Hart rose to fame with her title role on the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. For seven seasons, Hart played the funny, kind-hearted witch. As the show’s success grew, the actress appeared on various magazine covers.

However, one photoshoot landed her in hot water with her bosses.

Melissa Joan Hart feared she’d be fired from Sabrina after Maxim photoshoot

In 1999, Hart was at the pinnacle of her career. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was in its fourth season, and the actress’s new movie Drive Me Crazy was about to be released. But things almost came crashing down because of a magazine photoshoot.

In a recent interview on the Pod Meets World podcast, Hart explained how a Maxim cover almost got her fired. The actress was at the premiere party for Drive Me Crazy when she learned that she was in hot water with her bosses.

"“While I’m at the [after-party], my lawyer show up and goes, ‘You did a photoshoot 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 phone 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 photoshoot. I did a photoshoot for Maxim! It’s Maxim, of course you’re gonna be in your underwear.”"

The magazine cover featured a scantily clad Hart with the title “Sabrina, your favorite witch without a stitch.” News of her possible firing came at a worse time for the actress, who was already having a bad day. Hart had broken up with her boyfriend and learned she was dropped from a role in Scary Movie.

According to Hart, she was accused of a contract violation from Archie Comics that stated she “would never play the character naked.” Fortunately for Hart, a loophole showed that they “had no ground to stand on.”

Hart managed to get back into good graces with her bosses and keep her job after writing an apology letter.