Since its premiere in 2005, the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy has seen all kinds of characters come and go. The episodes featuring the deaths of beloved characters have often been some of the most famous (or infamous) of the series. The departure of one of the show's stars often leaves fans to wonder what was behind the move, and some of the exits have been more dramatic than others. In some cases, a mutual decision is reached that it's time to move on, while in others, actors have been fired for being difficult on set. Let's take a look at the real reason these actors left Grey's Anatomy.
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00:00Grey's Anatomy, one of the longest-running scripted primetime TV shows, has gained a
00:04reputation for killing or writing off main characters during major episodes.
00:08But the stories behind some actors' departures haven't always been so clear.
00:12Here are some of the reasons why these stars left Grey's Anatomy.
00:15Spoilers ahead.
00:17For the first few seasons of Grey's Anatomy, actor Isaiah Washington played Dr. Preston
00:21Burke, a central figure of the show.
00:23But in 2006, rumors began to circulate that Washington had caused some trouble behind
00:27the scenes.
00:28In an argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey, Washington reportedly used a homophobic slur.
00:33Not long afterwards, his co-star T.R. Knight came out as gay to People magazine, causing
00:38Washington to face even more backlash.
00:40Washington first denied using the slur, but according to Today, he eventually released
00:44a statement apologizing for his actions, saying,
00:46"...I apologize to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show, and especially the lesbian
00:51and gay community, for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance."
00:56His apology didn't keep him on the show, though.
00:59In June 2007, ABC confirmed that Washington would not return for the next season.
01:03Following his dismissal, Washington said in a statement,
01:05"...I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."
01:09Kate Walsh was Grey's Anatomy's second major character to leave, but the circumstances
01:13of her exit were much less controversial.
01:15"...and you must be the woman who's been screwing my husband."
01:23In 2007, ABC announced that they would be producing a Grey's spinoff series called Private
01:27Practice, which would star Walsh in the leading role, as reported by The New York Times.
01:31Although she was going to keep her Addison Montgomery character from Grey's, Walsh would
01:34have to leave the series to star in the new show.
01:37Walsh later told TV Guide that when Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes approached her
01:41about the new series, it totally felt like the right thing.
01:44In an interview with Parade in 2016, she explained that she knew her time on Grey's was up, admitting,
01:49"...I felt like my tenure sort of was done at the hospital in terms of, I delivered lots
01:53of babies, I sort of, you know, tried to save my marriage, it failed.
01:57I'd slept with numerous people at the hospital.
01:59I was like, what else can I do, other than start, like, making lunch for everybody?"
02:03T.R.
02:04Knight, who played the beloved character George O'Malley, left the show in 2009.
02:07In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Knight explained that he made the decision
02:10to leave after watching his character pretty much disappear from the show, snagging a lot
02:14less screen time.
02:15Due to what he called a, quote, "...breakdown of communication over time between himself
02:19and Shonda Rhimes," he didn't speak up.
02:21Instead, he just asked to leave.
02:23He explained,
02:24"...a five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given
02:28about George.
02:29And with respect, I'm going to leave it at that."
02:31It wasn't the first time Rhimes and Knight seemed to disagree.
02:34Regarding Isaiah Washington's 2006 scandal, Knight hinted that Rhimes may not have wanted
02:38him to publicly come out at the time, saying,
02:40"...I think she was concerned about having my statement come out so close to the initial
02:44event."
02:46Katherine Heigl's departure from the show was another messy situation.
02:48In 2007, she won an Emmy Award for her role as Izzy Stevens, but after the next season
02:52of the show, she refused to submit her name for Emmy consideration, saying that she didn't
02:56think she was, quote, "...given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination,"
03:01as reported by The New York Times.
03:02She withdrew her name, in her words, in an effort to maintain the integrity of the Academy
03:07organization.
03:08As could be expected, her comments reportedly angered network executives.
03:11In March 2010, ABC confirmed that Heigl would be leaving Grey's Anatomy.
03:15Heigl gave a statement to Entertainment Weekly, saying,
03:18"...I am done.
03:19We just finalized our agreement.
03:20We've been working really hard to find an amicable and gracious way of letting go and
03:24moving on.
03:25It's sad, but it's what I wanted."
03:27Shonda Rhimes later spoke about Heigl's behavior to Oprah Winfrey, stating,
03:30"...on some level it's done, and on some level I was not surprised."
03:34"...You weren't?"
03:35"...No."
03:36"...Okay."
03:37"...When people show you who they are, believe them."
03:39In a bit of an unexpected move, Sandra Oh left Grey's Anatomy after playing Dr. Christina
03:42Yang from the very beginning.
03:44In August 2013, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Oh would be leaving the show at the end
03:48of Season 10, a decision she made on her own.
03:51She explained,
03:52"...creatively, I really feel like I gave it my all, and I feel ready to let her go."
03:55She also said that she started thinking about leaving a year earlier, and it was something
03:59she went to therapy for because she needed to, in her words,
04:02"...emotionally let go on her own."
04:04Shonda Rhimes seemed just as devastated about the decision, saying,
04:07"...one of the best days of my life as a writer happened the day Sandra Oh walked in my door
04:11to audition and forever changed the course of Grey's Anatomy with her brilliant, nuanced
04:16portrayal of Christina Yang."
04:18Perhaps the most shocking character departure in the show's history was Patrick Dempsey's
04:22Dr. Derek McDreamy Shepard, who was killed off after 10 years on the show.
04:26Fans were devastated at how he left the series, leading Shonda Rhimes to eventually speak
04:30out about it at the 2015 Summer TCA Press Tour.
04:33As reported by E! News, she said that she stood by her decision to kill Shepard, adding,
04:37"...the decision to have the character die the way that he did was not a difficult one
04:41in the sense of, what were the options?"
04:43In an interview with The I-Paper, Dempsey explained that he felt it was time to move
04:47on from Grey's Anatomy, saying,
04:48"...Look, 10 years is a long time to be on any show.
04:51It's very hard to keep the storylines intriguing, especially on a network show with 25 episodes
04:56a year.
04:57So for me, it was time to go."
04:58"...Grey's Anatomy was a remarkable run.
05:01And without that success, I probably wouldn't be here today talking to you."
05:04At the end of Season 8, fans were shocked when Kyler Lee's character, Lexi Grey, was
05:08killed off the show.
05:09But in a statement given to E! News, Lee revealed that she was the one who decided to leave,
05:14although she didn't exactly explain why.
05:16She only said,
05:17"...I am very lucky to have worked with this amazing cast and crew for five seasons.
05:21My experience on Grey's Anatomy is something that I will treasure for the rest of my life."
05:25Shonda Rhimes tweeted about Lee leaving, saying in part,
05:27"...This was not an easy decision, but it was a decision that Kyler and I came to together.
05:32We had a lot of thoughtful discussion about it, and ultimately we both decided this was
05:35the right time for her character's journey to end."
05:38Another cast member who made the decision to leave the show was Kim Raver, who played
05:42Teddy Altman.
05:43Raver left the show during the Season 8 finale, except her character was not killed off.
05:47She was fired from the hospital, so that she would accept a position at a military hospital.
05:51Although Raver didn't speak about leaving the show, Shonda Rhimes tweeted an explanation
05:54after the shocking episode aired, saying that Raver's series option was up, and she was
05:58giving her character, quote, a much-needed vacation.
06:01She added,
06:02"...I like to imagine that Teddy is still out there in the Grey's Anatomy universe,
06:05running Army Medical Command and building a new life."
06:08As it turns out, that may have been exactly what she was doing while she was gone.
06:11Raver returned to the series as Teddy during the Season 14 finale, and Deadline later announced
06:15that Raver was upped to a series regular for Season 15.
06:19Eric Dane, who played Dr. Mark Sloan, said he was the one who made the decision to leave
06:23the series.
06:24He told TVLine that, while he was extremely grateful to the cast and crew of Grey's, he
06:28was ready to pursue other opportunities.
06:30Shonda Rhimes released her own statement, saying that Dane had been one of the most
06:34beloved characters, but that they both felt it was, quote, the right time for his storyline
06:38to end.
06:39Not long afterwards, Dane landed a starring role on TNT's The Last Ship.
06:43Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he shared that it was a very different role than his
06:46one in Grey's, noting,
06:47"...I loved doing Grey's Anatomy.
06:49I would have done it until the final episode, but this was something I couldn't pass up."
06:53In May 2016, Sara Ramirez, who played Dr. Callie Torres, announced she, too, would be
06:58leaving Grey's Anatomy.
06:59Ramirez's departure was a surprise, but sources told Variety that it was totally her decision,
07:04and there was no bad blood behind the scenes.
07:06In a statement, Ramirez explained that she needed time off and praised Shonda Rhimes
07:09for creating a wonderful place to work.
07:12She also suggested that she may come back to the series in the future.
07:15Ramirez's decision was initially so shocking that even Rhimes didn't know the actress wanted
07:19to leave.
07:20Ultra reported that Rhimes said she found out Ramirez wanted off the show about three
07:23days before the general public found out.
07:25She revealed,
07:26"...I had a different plan going on, and then Sara came and said, I really need to take
07:29a break.
07:30I was sort of lucky that we had shot the end of the season with her going to New York."
07:34In September 2017, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Jason George, who played Dr.
07:38Ben Warren, would be joining the Grey's Anatomy firefighter spinoff Station 19 as a series
07:43regular.
07:44George told Entertainment Tonight that he got the news about the spinoff through a phone
07:47call, saying,
07:48"...When Shonda Rhimes calls, you feel like you get called into the principal's office
07:51a little bit and you think, maybe I better take that call.
07:54We talked and she ran it down for me and had me at hello."
07:57In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in December 2017, George said he couldn't
08:01wait to start the show because it felt like his character was starting over and doing
08:04something new, noting that he loves that his character is, quote, "...excited to pursue
08:08new things and go up to new challenges."
08:10Luckily for his fans, his character has already made appearances in crossover episodes, so
08:14he may be back to Grey's frequently.
08:17Jessica Capshaw, who played Dr. Arizona Robbins, and Sarah Drew, who played Dr. April Kepner,
08:22exited Grey's Anatomy at the end of the series' 14th season.
08:26According to a Deadline report, the decision was made by producers.
08:29When rumors surfaced that Capshaw and Drew were being kicked off because of co-star Ellen
08:32Pompeo's salary increase, showrunner Krista Vernoff tweeted that it was actually a creative
08:37decision to have the characters leave the show.
08:39In a statement on her Instagram page, Capshaw wrote about her character's departure, saying
08:43in part,
08:44"...I'm sad to see her go, but I am consoled by the idea that she will live on and on in
08:48all of our consciences and imaginations."
08:50Drew also released a statement on her Instagram account.
08:52She wrote, in part,
08:53"...In the wake of being let go, I've been overwhelmed with gratitude, and I felt profoundly
08:58loved.
08:59I am so humbled and so thankful."