Paget Brewster is reflecting on her Criminal Minds journey and why she left the show and then later returned.
She sat down with Kristin Davis for her podcast Are You a Charlotte in an episode released on Monday (April 27).
Paget revealed the reason behind why she initially left the show. She claims that they had filmed a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff show and when former CBS President Les Moonves—who quit after allegations of sexual assault, harassment and abuse in 2018—watched the pilot, it was the first time he’d seen the show in a while.
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“We think he saw the show for the first time in years and just said, ‘Oh, I don’t like those women. Get rid of those women.’ And so, A.J. Cook and I were fired,” she explained.
A.J. Cook returned for a few episodes in season 6 after leaving during season 5. Then later came back as a full-time cast member in season 7.
Paget says she was offered full time but decided to leave the show after season 7 because she was “so mad” at CBS.
“I really did hold on to that anger for too long,” she shared on the podcast. “It was an unhealthy thing to hold onto. Because A.J. and I were like, ‘We were early, we knew our lines, we never got into fights.’ We were really angry. I held onto the anger for too long, and after four years, I finally thought, ‘Why am I not [on the show]? I love everyone there. I just don’t like Les Moonves, and I never have to see him because he doesn’t care about this show.’”
She ended up returning in season 12, with her character taking over for Thomas Gibson‘s after he was fired.
However, Paget also said she had to fight to get her “episodic fee close to what the men were making.”
She said she and the other women “were always paid less.”
“I was like, ‘Well, I kind of have them over a barrel. They need me more than I need this show.’ So, I got my episode fee way up from what it was,” Paget said. “Then, when the other female cast members, their contracts were up, so I said, ‘This is what I got. Go get more.’ So then, they went in and they got big raises.”
Paget also returned for the Criminal Minds revival Evolution, which returns for season 19 on May 28. Find out more details about the new season here!
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