French Stewart has publicly defended Anna Faris against scathing remarks from “Mom” co-creator Chuck Lorre in his new memoir.
The actor, 62, who played Chef Rudy across eight seasons of the CBS comedy, took to Instagram on Wednesday with a throwback photo of himself alongside Faris. He described her to his followers as “one of [his] all time favorite co-stars” and someone “funny, kind [and] prepared” who “delivered on show night.”
Stewart noted that he spent “the majority” of his time on the show working directly with Faris, whom he called a “really good person,” He added that it was “dishearten[ing] to see Chuck Lorre throw her under the television bus in his new book.”
The post marked a rare public intervention by a cast member into the growing controversy around Lorre’s “Sitcom” tell-all, which was released Oct. 13. In the memoir, Lorre, 74, wrote that he felt vindicated when Faris exited the series in 2020 after seven seasons playing Christy Plunkett. The show continued for one additional season without her.
“I wasn’t sure [when casting that] Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” Lorre explained to his readers. “As the years went by, it became apparent that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was, in fact, correct.”
Lorre went further, likening Faris to Charlie Sheen, who caused “a lot of anxiety” on the “Two and a Half Men” set. The director ultimately decided “someone’s personal life is none of [his] business” and “the mom in ‘Mom’ would be, and should be, Anna Faris.” However, he continued, “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.”
Stewart fired back directly at this characterization in his Wednesday post.
“I’ll say this. Whenever I saw Anna — I saw a woman working hard to make a good show. Whenever I saw Chuck — I saw a man trying hard not to turn into a werewolf.”
He concluded, “That was my experience. I wouldn’t trade a day working with her.”
Faris herself had addressed Lorre’s comments in an Instagram Story statement last week, before Stewart’s intervention.
“Yikes. Yes, I read a few things. I really didn’t see that coming,” the actress wrote. “Of course it hurts.”
She clarified that she remains “grateful” to Lorre for her time on the show, then pivoted to her personal recovery journey.
“I’ve been sober for a year and a half. I was on a show about recovery and then I lived it.”
She finished, “Now I’m healthy, I’m working, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. If anyone reading this is where I was, I hope that’s useful. It gets better. I’m proof.”
George Paez, who played a recurring character named Ramone on the series, also weighed in on Stewart’s post. He commented that he “agreed” with Stewart’s depiction of Faris.
“Anna always made me feel welcomed,” Paez wrote. “When she would say my name out load, my heart would light up and I would say to myself, ‘She remembered my name.'”
Stewart’s characterization of Faris as “the spine of the” hit series stood in sharp contrast to Lorre’s portrait of an actress whose departure validated his original doubts. The public split between a co-creator and his former cast has become increasingly rare in an era of careful Hollywood public relations, particularly for a show that ran successfully for eight seasons and dealt explicitly with themes of addiction and recovery.
The CBS comedy “Mom” premiered in 2013 with Faris as Christy Plunkett, a single mother navigating sobriety and rebuilding her relationship with her own mother, played by Allison Janney. The series became a reliable ratings performer for the network and earned Janney multiple Emmy Awards. Faris’s departure in 2020 came after the seventh season finale, with her character written out as having moved to Washington, D.C. To attend law school and continue her recovery journey. The eighth and final season focused on Janney’s character and introduced new cast members before concluding in 2021.
Reps for Lorre and Faris did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Stewart’s post.
Faris is set to continue her podcast “Anna Faris Is Unqualified” and has several film projects in development.