Pauley Perrette had a dramatic exit from NCIS after playing fan-favorite character Abby Sciuto in the CBS crime procedural.
Pauley Perrette’s forensic scientist Abby Sciuto was easily one of the best characters on NCIS, thanks to her Goth style and quirky manners. She made her first appearance in the first season of the crime procedural in 2003 and continued to provide breakthroughs for the MCRT team until Season 15. It was a tough pill for fans to swallow when Perrette made a dramatic exit from the series.
Well, fans didn’t have much insight into the behind-the-scenes drama barring a few rumors of a rift between Perrette and one of the leading stars. It was days after her exit that she came out with a series of tweets alleging “multiple physical assaults” on the set of NCIS. Here’s how the drama unfolded between two fan-favorite stars on one of the longest-running TV shows.
Pauley Perrette Left Her Role As Abby Sciuto At The End Of NCIS Season 15
Pauley Perrette made the decision to leave the series a year before her final episode. In the 21st episode of NCIS Season 15, Perrette’s Abby Sciuto and MI6 Agent Clayton Reeves, played by Duane Henry, are shot by an unknown man. The 22nd episode reveals that the team had lost Clayton and Abby appears to be in a critical condition.
As the episode winds up, Abby, who recovers from the injuries, decides to leave NCIS and pursue Clayton’s dream of starting a charity in London. Emotional goodbyes are exchanged between characters. The final episode even drew a season-high viewership of 14.8 million.
But fans felt that Abby’s farewell scene with her father figure Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, was odd. They didn’t share the screen during the scene as Abby chose to leave a note to Gibbs and watched him read it from across the street. It didn’t take long enough for fans to figure out why.
In a series of vague tweets, she revealed the real reason why she left the series. She wrote in her first tweet that tabloids were spreading lies about her and claimed that she never told publicly what happened as she didn’t want to go low. The next day, she added that she wanted to ‘spill the beans’ but had concerns regarding her crew and their jobs.
In the next set of tweets, she referred to a “rich, very powerful publicity machine” keeping her silent and feeding false stories about her. She further intrigued the audience by mentioning, “He did it.” In her final tweet, she clearly hinted that she was bullied on the set by someone and mentioned “multiple physical assaults” on the set.
Perrette’s comments caught the attention of many fans who began discussions about workplace harassment on the NCIS set. CBS executives did respond to her comments, sharing that she came to them with a workplace concern earlier. They shared that they did not take it lightly and took necessary action. CBS’s statement read (via Deadline):
Pauley Perrette had a terrific run on NCIS and we are all going to miss her. Over a year ago, Pauley came to us with a workplace concern. We took the matter seriously and worked with her to find a resolution. We are committed to a safe work environment on all our shows
Perrette appeared to have no issues with CBS as she shared in another tweet that she wanted to thank CBS for her role. She shared that the network always had her back during the run of the series.
While the actress’s tweets didn’t name anyone on the show at the time, it did bring up a rumored story from NCIS set from 2016. This story brought the fans’ attention to an alleged feud between Perrette and Harmon, two actors who shared a beautiful relationship in the series.
Pauley Perrette Left NCIS Because of Mark Harmon
If fans go back to Pauley Perrette’s last couple of seasons, Abby and Gibbs share very few scenes together in the earlier seasons. It was reported that they had an alleged feud over a dog bite that happened on set in 2016. According to Vanity Fair, the incident took place when Mark Harmon brought his dog to the set of NCIS.
When a crew member was playing with the pooch, it bit him and caused an injury, allegedly requiring 15 stitches. Harmon allegedly continued to bring the dog to set, endangering the cast & crew. While Harmon’s attorney and sources close to him disputed this, the story goes on that Perrette was the only one with the power to confront Harmon about the dog. When she did, it began a reported rift between them.
In June 2019, Perrette tweeted that she would never come back to NCIS and asked her fans to stop asking her about the same. For the first time, she named Harmon as the problem and shared that she was “terrified” of him. She shared that she had “nightmares” about her time together with the actor.
In a follow-up tweet, which is now deleted, she shared photos of a crew member in stitches who was allegedly beaten up. She shared that she fought like hell to stop this from happening again. She claimed that she was physically assaulted for fighting back and lost her job in the process. She shared (via USA Today):
You think I didn’t expect blow back? You got me wrong. THIS happened To my crew member and I fought like hell to keep it from happening again! To protect my crew! And then I was physically assaulted for saying NO!?and I lost my job.
This Instagram post from E! News revealed the photos shared by Perrette:
Despite Perrette’s public accusations against him, Harmon never responded to the allegations in public. Fans were shocked to hear this side of the actor, however, many were still not sure what to make of it.
Are Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon Friends Now?
According to a recent report from ScreenRant, CBS executives revealed in 2024 that the issue had long been resolved. The execs were even on board to bring her back, if she was willing. Whether the report is true or not, it appears that Perrette and Harmon are not going back to being besties like old times.
In a 2020 interview with USA Today, Perrette called NCIS “the military show about murder” in a not-so-nice manner. She further shared that the show was part of her past and she didn’t have any need to talk about it again. However, she expressed her gratitude for the role. She shared:
That is a part of my past now, and it’s nothing that I have any need to talk about again, other than one thing: I’m certainly grateful for having the opportunity to play that character and I always will be.
Perrette landed the lead role in the CBS sitcom Broke and she shared that she was happy on her new show. However, the show was canceled after one season in May 2020. A couple of months later, Perrette announced her retirement from acting via a tweet. She shared that she considered quitting after NCIS but Broke was “important, beautiful” for her and that she did her last dance on the show.
Harmon exited his role as Agent Gibbs in 2021 during the fourth episode of the show’s nineteenth season.
Will Pauley Perrette Ever Return to NCIS?
Pauley Perrette’s return to NCIS was widely speculated, especially after the exit of Mark Harmon. She was even mentioned in the episode which paid tribute to actor David McCallum and his character Dr. Ducky Mallard. However, the show already has an in-house forensic scientist whom fans have grown to love over the last few seasons, Kasey Hines
It was also speculated that she would return alongside Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo in the newly announced Paramount+ series, NCIS: Tony & Ziva. However, the new spin-off’s cast includes Maximilian Osinski, who will play computer hacker Boris. Many still hoped that she could return in some capacity as Abby, but Perrette’s most recent comments have disappointed fans.
In an interview to Hello! Magazine in October 2024, Perrette shared that she is a different person now and wants to remain the same. She shared that she was at that point in life where she needed to “find authenticity in everything”. She shared that going back to acting would take away this authenticity. Perrette shared:
At this point in my life I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actor, especially at certain points in my life, was a great escape; it’s like a drug because I didn’t have to be me, I could be somebody else. My character didn’t have all of the problems that I was having.
It’s why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth. For me, going back to being an actor would be taking away from this life of true authenticity that I’m living 100% of the time.
While Abby is not coming back, Gibbs might just drop in for an appearance given that he’s now working closely with the franchise. He will reprise the role in the upcoming prequel series, NCIS: Origins. He is the narrator of the show and also serves as an executive producer.
All 21 seasons of NCIS are now available for streaming on Paramount+.
