While Grey’s Anatomy fans reel from the latest cast shake-up, TVLine has decided to review not only how the ABC drama handled a whole bunch of other high-profile exits but also what precipitated them.
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greys-anatomy-jessica-capshaw
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Jessica Capshaw (Dr. Arizona Robbins)
Final Airdate: May 17, 2018
Reason for Exit: The decision to pink-slip Capshaw along with Sarah Drew as Season 14 neared its conclusion “was a creative one,” insisted showrunner Krista Vernoff, adding that “the only thing as constant on Grey’s as Ellen Pompeo is our penchant for reinvention.”
How She Left: Raising Calzona fans’ hopes for a reunion — if only off screen — the erstwhile Roller Girl followed her ex Callie’s tracks to New York to open the Robbins-Herman Center for Women’s Health with former mentor Nicole.
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justin chambers greys anatomy
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev)
Final Airdate: March 5, 2020
Reason for Exit: Two months after his last appearance on the show, Chambers issued a statement in which he revealed that “for some time… I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices… Now is that time.”
How He Left: After telling bride Jo that he was going to care for his ailing mother — and never returning — Alex sent not only her but Meredith, Richard and Bailey letters explaining that he’d actually reunited with old flame Izzie, who since leaving Seattle had settled in Kansas with their children. Yes, children!
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greys-anatomy-eric-dane
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Eric Dane (Dr. Mark Sloan)
Final Airdate: Oct. 4, 2012
Reason for Exit: Back then, Shonda Rhimes said in a statement that “after much discussion and conversations, [Dane] and I have decided that this is the right time for his storyline to end.” Shortly thereafter, the actor set sail on TNT’s The Last Ship. “I would’ve done [Grey’s] until the final episode,” he told Entertainment Weekly, “but this was something I couldn’t pass up.”
How He Left: Though Mark survived the plane crash that ended Season 8, he didn’t survive for long. McSteamy succumbed to his injuries shortly after Season 9 began, in a way — a really tragic way! — reuniting him with his late true love, Lexie.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Patrick Dempsey (Dr. Derek Shepherd)
Final Airdate: May 14, 2015
Reason for Exit: Shonda Rhimes said it “wasn’t easy or fun” reaching the decision to part ways with Dempsey after 11 seasons — and while he still had a season left on his contract. But, as the actor told People.com, “it was time for me to move on with other things and other interests. I stayed a bit longer than I should have.”
How He Left: In the April 23, 2015, episode, “How to Save a Life,” Derek treated victims of a car accident at the site of the wreck, only to have his own vehicle slammed by a semi. The shoddy medical care that he received at nearby Dillard Medical Center left him brain-dead before Meredith could even arrive on the scene.
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greys anatomy sarah drew
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Sarah Drew (Dr. April Kepner)
Final Airdate: May 17, 2018
Reason for Exit: When Drew was axed with Jessica Capshaw at the end of Season 14, showrunner Krista Vernoff made it clear that their dismissals had nothing to do with castmate Ellen Pompeo’s raise; the suggestion “is wrong and hurtful,” she tweeted. Rather, the changes to the series’ lineup were creatively dictated. “And that,” Vernoff added, “is the whole story.” Well, aside from the fact that Drew didn’t seem to see it coming. “I know you’re sad,” she tweeted to her fans. “I’m sad, too.”
How She Left: When Alex and Jo’s planned nuptials went off the rails in Season 14’s finale, April and ex-fiancé Matthew stepped in and got married in their place. The couple now work with the homeless in a part of Seattle that somehow isn’t shown on either Grey’s or Station 19.
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greys-anatomy-greg-germann
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Greg Germann (Dr. Tom Koracick)
Final Airdate: May 20, 2021
Reason for Exit: Beats the hell out of us. In announcing to our sister site Deadline that the actor wouldn’t be returning as a series regular in Season 18, showrunner Krista Vernoff called him “a comic genius” who would be missed “terribly in the day to day — but we plan to see Tom Koracick again!”
How He Left: After watching roommate of color after roommate of color succumb to COVID during his hospital stay, Tom decided that he wanted to become worthy of having been spared the same fate. So he joined Jackson in relocating to Boston to, in essence, change the world for the better.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Giacomo Gianniotti (Dr. Andrew DeLuca)
Final Airdate: March 11, 2021
Reason for Exit: Inspiration, EP Krista Vernoff told TVLine. When she began brainstorming Season 17 stories, “this one was the first and most powerful one that came to my mind sort of wholly realized. I knew… why we had to do it,” however reluctantly.
How He Left: While pursuing sex trafficker Opal, DeLuca was stabbed by one of her accomplices. Later, he succumbed to his injuries at Grey Sloan — and was reunited with his late mother on Meredith’s limbo beach between life and death.
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greys-anatomy-katherine-heigl
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Katherine Heigl (Dr. Izzie Stevens)
Final Airdate: Jan. 21, 2010
Reason for Exit: With her movie career on the upswing, the 2008 Emmy winner declined to submit herself for consideration the following year because “I did not feel,” she said in a statement, “that I was given the material this season to warrant a… nomination.” The dis did not go unnoticed by Shonda Rhimes, who shared on Oprah’s Next Chapter that “on some level, [Heigl’s remark] stung, and on some level, I was not surprised.” Ultimately, the actress asked to be released 18 months early from her contract to spend more time with her family.
How She Left: When husband Alex refused to let Izzie take back the Dear John letter she’d written when she believed he was responsible for her firing, she declined a chance to scrub back in and left Seattle to start over.
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greys-anatomy-martin-henderson
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Martin Henderson (Dr. Nathan Riggs)
Final Airdate: Oct. 26, 2017
Reason for Exit: After Patrick Dempsey’s Derek was killed off, “I couldn’t believe how fast the studio and the network felt like they had to get a penis in there,” Ellen Pompeo told The Hollywood Reporter. “We brought in Martin Henderson, but they didn’t love the storyline, so that ended.” At least Henderson wasn’t blindsided. He “only had a short-term contract,” he told our sister site Deadline. “This [was] my final year, so I was expecting Nathan’s storyline to be wrapped up.”
How He Left: The resurrection of Riggs’ lost love — and Owen’s sister — Megan drove the final nail into the coffin of his budding romance with Mer. Early on in Season 14, Nathan and Megan not only reunited but moved to Malibu with her son Farouk.
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greys-anatomy-jerrika-hinton
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Jerrika Hinton (Dr. Stephanie Edwards)
Final Airdate: May 18, 2017
Reason for Exit: Three words — Here and Now. When Hinton landed a role on Alan Ball’s short-lived HBO series, she asked to be released from her Grey’s contract. “And when an actor like Jerrika comes to me and says she wants to try something new,” Shonda Rhimes said in a statement, “creatively, I like to honor that.”
How She Left: After nearly going up in smoke in the Grey Sloan blaze that ended Season 13, Stephanie quit not only her job but medicine altogether. “I need to travel and… explore… and hike… and breathe,” she told Richard, “away from the monitors and the blood.”
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Grey's Anatomy TR Knight
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC T.R. Knight (Dr. George O’Malley)
Final Airdate: May 14, 2009
Reason for Exit: After the Season 3 incident with Isaiah Washington that led to Knight’s public coming-out, George, his portrayer told Entertainment Weekly in 2009, “just kind of disappeared.” So the actor asked to be let out of his contract — with no discussion whatsoever about his character’s fate. “My five-year experience,” he said, “proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given” about George.
How He Left: No sooner had George suddenly decided to join the Army than he was disfigured playing hero to save a woman from being hit by a bus. By the time Meredith realized who her John Doe patient was, he was as good as dead.
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greys-anatomy-chyler-leigh
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Chyler Leigh (Dr. Lexie Grey)
Final Airdate: May 17, 2012
Reason for Exit: As if to brace viewers for her imminent departure, Leigh sat out the start of Season 8 to enjoy the extended summer hiatus she’d been granted to spend more time with her family. Later, she revealed that “earlier this year, I made the decision that Season 8 would be my last” and that she’d worked with Shonda Rhimes “to give Lexie’s story appropriate closure.”
How She Left: If by “appropriate,” she meant “heartrending,” they sure nailed it. While imagining a future with soulmate Mark that would never come to pass, Lexie succumbed to injuries sustained in Season 8’s legendary plane crash.
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greys-anatomy-tina-majorino
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Tina Majorino (Dr. Heather Brooks)
Final Airdate: Sept. 26, 2013
Reason for Exit: Majorino was already attached to TNT’s Legends when she began recurring as the intern that Cristina dubbed Mousey. When the spy drama was picked up, the actress was shipped out.
How She Left: Though Season 9’s finale left Richard lying face down in a pool of water after he was electrocuted in the hospital’s boiler room, it was actually Heather who wound up dying from the shock she got running to his rescue in Season 10’s premiere.
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greys anatomy kelly mccreary
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Kelly McCreary (Dr. Maggie Pierce)
Final Airdate: April 13, 2023
Reason for Exit: After nine seasons as Richard and Ellis’ surprise daughter, McCreary was eager to explore other options, reported our sister site Deadline.
How She Left: TBD. But the smart money is on Maggie leaving Seattle to put some distance between herself and her disastrous marriage to Winston.
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greys-anatomy-sandra-oh
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Sandra Oh (Dr. Cristina Yang)
Final Airdate: May 15, 2014
Reason for Exit: After 10 seasons, Oh told The Hollywood Reporter that “creatively, I really feel like I gave it my all, and I feel ready to let [Cristina] go… [I] actually get the sense that she wants to be let go as well.”
How She Left: To give Cristina “that full-circle moment we need,” Shonda Rhimes brought back Isaiah Washington as Yang’s ex-fiancé Burke and had him hire her to run the fancypants Klausman Institute for Medical Research in Zurich. Thankfully, her presence is still felt in Seattle; in Season 16, for instance, she sent Meredith sexy “McWidow” as a gift.
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ELLEN POMPEO
Image Credit: ABC Ellen Pompeo (Dr. Meredith Grey)
Final Airdate: February 23, 2023
Reason for Exit: Eager to explore other opportunities after nearly two decades in scrubs, the original cast member returned for Season 19 in only a limited capacity. But the show “is going to be just fine without me,” she assured our sister site Deadline. Not that it would ever be entirely without Pompeo; she was continuing on as an executive producer and would provide voiceover narration for the rest of the season’s episodes.
How She Left: Hoping to ease daughter Zola’s anxiety attacks, Meredith relocated with her children to Boston, where she’d been offered a job at the Catherine Fox Foundation by former colleague Jackson.
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greys anatomy sara ramirez
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Sara Ramirez (Dr. Callie Torres)
Final Airdate: May 19, 2016
Reason for Exit: A month after Ramirez set the rumor mill abuzz by cryptically tweeting, “That’s a wrap for Dr. Callie Torres,” she confirmed that she was leaving Grey’s. “I’m taking some welcome time off,” she said in a statement. But “I look forward to always being a part of the Shondaland family.”
How She Left: In the wake of an acrimonious custody battle with Arizona, Callie was encouraged by her ex-wife to follow her new girlfriend Penny to New York; Sofia’s moms would work out the rest later. In Season 14’s finale, it was strongly hinted that, upon Arizona’s relocation to the Big Apple, Calzona would reunite.
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greys-anatomy-brooke-smith
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Brooke Smith (Dr. Erica Hahn)
Final Airdate: Nov. 6, 2008
Reason for Exit: Simply put, ABC didn’t like the character, and Shonda Rhimes seemed to agree, telling EW.com in a statement at the time that she wasn’t feeling the “magic” between Smith’s Hahn and Sara Ramirez’s Callie. However, Rhimes denied that Smith’s pink slip resulted from gay panic.
How She Left: In what endures as a Grey’s punchline to this day, Dr. Hahn ventured out to the hospital’s parking garage to head home for the night and was never seen or heard from again.
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greys-anatomy-kate walsh
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Montgomery)
Final Airdate: May 17, 2007 (as a series regular)
Reason for Exit: Addison was such a hit that, after only two seasons as a Grey’s regular, Walsh was tapped for her own spinoff, Private Practice. “I was shocked and excited and mostly blown away” when Shonda Rhimes made the offer, Walsh told TV Guide. “I was so flattered that they would think of my character to take off for greener pastures.”
How She Left: Though Walsh would still guest-star on Grey’s now and then, Addison took off from Seattle to join the Oceanside Wellness Group in L.A.
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greys anatomy isaiah washington
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke)
Final Airdate: May 17, 2007
Reason for Exit: During Season 3, Washington was alleged to have used a homophobic slur on the set to refer to castmate T.R. Knight — a slur that he then repeated at the Golden Globes. Washington was subsequently let go. “Season 4 is going to be stronger, better, wiser and smarter,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I had hoped to be a contributor to that.”
How He Left: On the day that he was to marry Cristina, Burke left her at the wedding chapel, packed up and departed from Seattle. Seven seasons later, he summoned his ex to Zurich to ask her to take over his prestigious hospital there, as he and his family were looking to relocate to Milan.
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jesse-williams-greys-anatomy
Image Credit: Courtesy of ABC Jesse Williams (Dr. Jackson Avery)
Final Airdate: May 20, 2021
Reason for Exit: None was given. Instead, as he departed the show after 12 years, Williams merely expressed his gratitude for his long run. “I have been obscenely lucky to learn so much from so many,” he said in a statement. “I am immensely proud of our work, our impact and to be moving forward with so many tools, opportunities, allies and dear friends.”
How He Left: Intent on creating real racial equality in healthcare, Jackson relocated from Seattle to Boston in order to take over the Catherine Fox Foundation. He didn’t go alone, either; to the delight of “Japril” shippers, he convinced newly-single ex-wife April to move, too, with their daughter, Harriet.
