Beverly Hills, 90210 Fan Reactions Got One Of The Teen Drama's Later Stars Fired

Ray Pruit (Jamie Walters) caught the eye of Tori Spelling's Donna Martin when he joined the fifth season of "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1994. After Donna suffered injuries following a violent encounter with her new sweetheart, however, fans called time on their relationship.  

The producers of the show had big plans for Walters, too, securing him a $1 million contract meant to stretch across multiple seasons. Warning signs of Ray's bad temper appear throughout the early stages of his arc on "Beverly Hills, 90210," but things take a darker turn when he shoves Donna down a flight of stairs during the Season 5 finale.

Even though producers had initially mapped out a long-term redemption arc for Ray, this idea was derailed by angry fans — who led a backlash aimed not at him, but at Donna for staying with him. According to writer and executive producer Larry Mollin, this intense fan reaction sealed Walters' fate. "That episode happened and there was a lot of mail to the old man — 'How can Donna be so stupid and be with this guy?'" Mollin recalled in an interview with Teen Drama Wh***.

When the crew of "Beverly Hills, 90210" returned for Season 6, Aaron Spelling — who was an executive producer on the iconic '90s TV show — had made up his mind. Larry Mollin recalled: "He goes, ”You have to get rid of him.' And we go, 'What are you talking about?' He said, 'You have to get rid of him. Everyone thinks Tori's stupid.' There was no arguing with him. That was all he cared about."

For Mollin, the toughest part was having to break the news to Walters. "It was just devastating that I had to tell him that," he explained. "... He got to walk away with his money. But it was still devastating for him." The firing also forced the creative team to scrap plans that would have explored Ray's childhood. Earlier in Season 5, it's established that Ray's mother had been an alcoholic and his father had been abusive. "He was going to go to rehab because he was an abused child," said Mollin. "We were going to redeem him because we liked him. He was a wonderful kid. Jamie was a dear guy."

While Walters walked away with his million-dollar payout, his abrupt exit from the show permanently branded his character. "We left him as being a beater, which stayed with him, unfortunately," Mollin said. "It was just terrible. I just always felt really bad about that." Ray was hastily written out in the thirteenth episode of Season 6; after that, he made only two brief, awkward guest appearances to tie up loose ends. A fictionalized version of Jamie Walters was also teased as a possible mystery stalker in an episode of "BH90210."