Not every Grey’s Anatomy exit is created equally. Katherine Heigl, Patrick Dempsey, Justin Chambers and more stars have left Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital — for various reasons.
Created by Shonda Rhimes and starring Ellen Pompeo, Grey’s Anatomy debuted on ABC in 2005. Pompeo (Meredith Grey) left the show as a series regular following season 19 but continued to provide voiceover narration and make special guest appearances in later seasons
“I’m going to always be a part of that show,” Pompeo told Deadline in 2022. “I’m an executive producer. I spent two decades of my career on [Grey’s Anatomy] — it’s my heart and soul. I’ll never truly be gone as long as [it’s] on the air.”
Rhimes left ABC in 2017, handing the showrunner reins over to Krista Vernoff.
“On every show I’ve ever worked on, there are stories you wish you could have told differently, but they were derailed by a behind-the-scenes issue. And that’s the thing that fans don’t understand,” Vernoff, who worked on seasons 1-7 of Grey’s before returning for season 14, told the Los Angeles Times in November 2020. “There was probably some s—t happening behind the scenes that we had to stay up all night rewriting scripts to try to have any semblance of a story to tell.’”
But why did some of our Grey’s Anatomy favorites leave Grey Sloan Memorial in the first place? Scroll through a breakdown of the reasons behind the show’s biggest exits:
Dr. Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli)
When: Season 21
How: Borelli is set to appear in several season 21 episodes before his storyline wraps up.
Why: Deadline broke the news in May 2024, not sharing any details about his exit.
Whether He’ll Return: It’s unclear if Borelli will return to Grey Sloan.
Midori Francis (Dr. Mika Yasuda)
When: Season 21
How: It’s unclear just yet how Dr. Yasuda will leave the hospital, but she’s set for a recurring role throughout the season.
Why: Deadline reported in May 2024 that it was an amicable decision between the actress and the showrunners. The publication also shared that Francis has been looking to “branch out” in her career.
Whether She’ll Return: It’s unclear whether fans will see Dr. Yasuda in the future.
Kelly McCreary (Maggie Pierce)
When: Season 19, Episode 15
How: Maggie left Grey Sloan to pursue a new opportunity in Chicago.
Why: McCreary told Deadline in April 2023 that she felt that it was time for her character “ to move on.”
“Maggie came here on a very specific mission; she came to Seattle, to Grey Sloan, to know more about her family — and by extension herself — and every season I asked that question, has Maggie figured out what she wants, does she have a new question?” she recalled. “I wondered if the struggles she was facing, the compatibility questions she was having with her husband were really questions about herself and who she really was and what she really wanted, and I thought, maybe that’s a sign that it’s time for her to move on.”
Whether She’ll Return: McCreary confirmed she would return for one final appearance in the season 19 finale. She briefly appeared in a season 20 episode, reuniting with Winston for a cardiac procedure and to confirm divorce plans.
Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery)
When: Season 17, Episode 15
How: Jackson decided to move to Boston (alongside April and their daughter, Harriet) to take over his family’s foundation after becoming increasingly frustrated with how the healthcare system treats people of color.
Why: Williams’ contract came to an end.
“Jesse Williams is an extraordinary artist and activist. Watching his evolution these past 11 years both on screen and off has been a true gift,” showrunner Krista Vernoff said in a statement to Deadline after his exit was announced. “Jesse brings so much heart, such depth of care, and so much intelligence to his work. We will miss Jesse terribly and we will miss Jackson Avery — played to perfection for so many years.”
Whether He’ll Return: “I don’t know. I’m not being cagey. I think it’s possible,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly in May 2021 after his final episode aired. “He’s not dead! He’s still working with the foundation. He’s everybody’s boss. So I think it’s possible. We’ll have to see.”
Nearly one year later, Williams told Entertainment Tonight in February 2022 that returning was “totally a possibility.” He came back the following May for a guest spot alongside fellow alum Sarah Drew in the 400th episode, which served as the season 18 finale. Williams then returned for an installment in season 19, which he also directed.
Giacomo Gianniotti (Andrew DeLuca)
When: Season 17, Episode 7
How: Dies on the operating table at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after being stabbed while trying to take down a sex trafficker.
Why: Showrunner Vernoff said in a statement that she believed “the story demanded to be told,” and Gianniotti agreed.
Whether He’ll Return: In an interview with Deadline, Gianniotti hinted that his character will return to the series in some capacity.
“Without telling too much, over the course of these 17 seasons, we’ve had a lot of characters leave, whether their character exited for some reason or whether they died on the show, and we continue to see those people,” he’ said. “We’ve continued to see those people in flashbacks, in dreams, in all kinds of different scenarios, and so, just because DeLuca has died, it doesn’t mean that there’s not other ways for us to see clips and other manifestations of DeLuca in the future. I definitely think there’s a possibility to see DeLuca in the rest of the season, but I don’t know exactly how and can’t comment on how.”
Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke)
When: Season 3, Episode 25
How: After leaving Cristina (Sandra Oh) at the altar, Burke left the Seattle hospital and founded the Klausman Institute for Medical Research in Zurich, Switzerland.
Why: Washington was fired in 2007 after T.R. Knight revealed that Washington used the word “f—-t” during a fight with Dempsey.
Whether He’ll Return: Washington, who denied being homophobic at the time, returned for a season 10 episode in 2014 to help wrap up Cristina’s story line.
Sara Ramirez (Callie Torres)
When: Season 12, Episode 24
How: Callie moved to New York with then-girlfriend Penny (Samantha Sloyan).
Why: Ramirez opted not to return for season 13 to pursue new jobs.
Whether She’ll Return: While Rhimes claimed in 2018 that CBS wouldn’t let Ramirez return because of her gig on Madam Secretary, Ramirez denied the claims. “For the record @CBS has been nothing but gracious and generous to me. They are open to Callie coming back! The ball is in @ABCNetwork’s court,” she tweeted at the time.
Sandra Oh (Cristina Yang)
When: Season 10, Episode 24
How: Cristina takes over Burke’s job as the Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery/Chief Medical Officer in Zurich.
Why: “Creatively, I really feel like I gave it my all, and I feel ready to let her go,” Oh told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. “It’s such an interesting thing to play a character for so long and to actually get the sense that she wants to be let go as well. [Cristina] wants to be let go, and I am ready to let her go.”
Whether She’ll Return: Oh shut down the possibility of returning to Grey’s during a 2019 interview. “I’m extremely grateful that you’re asking me that question because that means that people are still invested and interested in Cristina Yang – a character who I left six years ago,” she told ET Canada. “There are so many new projects and I’m a different person, and so I’d have to say no.”
Eric Dane (Mark Sloan)
When: Season 9, Episode 2
How: Sloan died of injuries he sustained during a fatal plane crash.
Why: Dane and Rhimes both agreed that it was time to wrap up McSteamy’s story line.
Whether He’ll Return: Dane didn’t seem down to return in March 2020 when a Twitter user asked for “McSteamy’s miracle return,” replying, “He’s super dead.”
The following year, however, he reprised his beloved role during Meredith’s aforementioned coronavirus dream. “I mean, if you’re ever going to bring Mark Sloan back, I guess with Meredith in a coma, it’s a good way for her to see him,” he told Deadline after the April 2021 episode aired. “So, it wasn’t a tough sell, and it made sense.”
In June 2024, Dane revealed on the “Armchair Expert” podcast that he was “let go” from the show because he got too “expensive for the network.” The Euphoria star denied that he was fired due to past addiction struggles.
Chyler Leigh (Lexie Grey)
When: Season 8, Episode 24
How: Lexie died in the aforementioned plane crash.
Why: “Earlier this year, I made the decision that season 8 would be my last on Grey’s Anatomy,” Leigh said in the statement in May 2012. “I met with Shonda and we worked together to give Lexie’s story appropriate closure.”
Whether She’ll Return: Leigh admitted in 2017 that she hadn’t watched Grey’s Anatomy since she left and felt like Lexie’s story wrapped up the way it should.
“I felt like they did justice to the story in the way that it ended. It was that — not Romeo & Juliet — but it was that heartbreak and that moment of surrender, I guess, in letting Lexie die,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I mean, I cried for hours after we had finished filming, just letting it go. It’s letting go a part of yourself, but I think it was handled really well. I thought it was a beautiful way to go. If you’re going to die, die under a fuselage of a plane! Why not, right?”
Four years later, however, she joined Meredith on the beach during the April 1, 2021, episode.
Kate Walsh (Addison Montgomery)
When: While Walsh was no longer a series regular after season 3, she appeared semi-regularly until season 8 episode 13.
How: Addison moved to Los Angeles to start her own private practice
Why: … which launched the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice. The show ran for six seasons, concluding in 2013.
Whether She’ll Return: “If it’s the right time and the right story line, yes,” Walsh told Pop Culture in 2019. “I always considered Shondaland my home, and particularly Grey’s.”
She first returned in 2021 during season 18 and season 19 in fall 2022.
T.R. Knight (George O’Malley)
When: Season 5, Episode 24
How: George died during surgery after he was hit by a bus.
Why: Knight claimed he and Rhimes had a “gradual breakdown of communication” over the years. “My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about George],” he told Entertainment Weekly in July 2009. “And with respect, I’m going to leave it at that. … There are a lot of people who would like to be in my position. But in the end, I need to be fulfilled in my work.”
Whether He’ll Return: Knight seemingly made amends with Rhimes, appearing on Shondaland’s The Catch in 2016. Four years later, he reprised his role as George during a December 2020 episode of Grey’s Anatomy in one of Meredith’s coronavirus dreams. He filmed scenes with Pompeo, Wilson and Pickens Jr.
“It was incredible, it was just an overwhelming feeling of love in that moment,” he told Deadline about the reunion. “We were apart from everybody quite a bit because that was a drone shot, and so it was just the four of us, and the sun was setting, and this big fly buzzing around our heads, and it filled me with just a lot of joy.”
Katherine Heigl (Isobel Stevens)
When: Season 6, Episode 12
How: After Izzie was fired, she believed then-husband Alex was to blame and left Seattle. While she returned to try to win him back, Alex turned her away. During season 16, it is revealed that Izzie secretly had Alex’s kids and was living in Kansas.
Why: Heigl’s behind-the-scenes drama on the set of Grey’s started in 2008 when she withdrew herself from Emmys consideration because she didn’t think her season 4 “material” warranted a nomination. There was reported tension between Heigl and Rhimes ever since and less than two years later, the actress finalized her exit deal in the middle of season 6 to spend time with her daughter.
Whether She’ll Return: While Rhimes has dissed Heigl several times over the years, the Suits alum has expressed remorse and a desire to return to the medical drama over the years. In 2019, however, she noted the ship may have sailed.
“I haven’t [thought about Izzie] in years. I don’t know if I would or if I wouldn’t,” she told Entertainment Tonight in July 2019. “I almost feel like that would almost be distracting again to, sort of, what they’ve done with that show in the seven years since I left … and what that’s become and what it is to the fans now. It must feel like it would just be kind of like, ‘Yeah, we already let that go … why are you here?’”
Jessica Capshaw (Arizona Robbins)
When: Season 14, Episode 23
How: Arizona moved to New York to reunite Sofia with her other mother, Callie.
Why: News broke in March 2018 that the show wasn’t renewing Capshaw’s contract.
“As writers, our job is to follow the stories where they want to go and sometimes that means saying goodbye to characters we love,” Vernoff said at the time.
Whether She’ll Return: “I feel like that was my home for so long but I don’t watch the show much so I’m not sure how it would be done,” the actress told Metro.co.uk in October 2020. ‘Netflix has given birth to this whole another generation of Grey’s viewers and the funniest part of it is that I haven’t been on the show for two years but nobody knows that. People think I’m still Arizona and I’m still on the show. Nothing has changed.”
Capshaw reprised her role for a guest-starring arc in 2024’s season 20
Sarah Drew (April Kepner)
When: Season 14, Episode 23
How: April married her ex Matthew (Justin Bruening) and quit her hospital job to “do God’s work.”
Why: Vernoff provided the same statement for Drew as she did for Capshaw, citing creative reasons for the decision to write off Arizona and April ahead of season 15.
Whether She’ll Return: Drew made a season 17 guest appearance with Williams when Jackson was written out. They moved to Boston with their daughter. The pair returned for the 400th episode in season 18, revealing that Jackson and April are officially back together.
Drew — who has been vocal about wanting a Jackson and April-centric spinoff — told Us Weekly in September 2022 that she is down to return again if the show needs April. “It’s always fun to check in with her and see how she’s doing,” Drew told Us. “I love putting the scrubs on. That was really fun.”
Justin Chambers (Alex Karev)
When: While Chambers was last seen on Grey’s during season 16 episode 8, the actor’s farewell episode was season 16, episode 16. He did voiceovers for the episode.
How: After learning Izzie secretly welcomed his kids, Alex left Jo (Camilla Luddington) to reunite with his ex-wife.
Why: “There’s no good time to say goodbye to a show and character that’s defined so much of my life for the past 15 years,” Chambers said in a statement in 2020. “For some time now, however, I have hoped to diversify my acting roles and career choices. And, as I turn 50 and am blessed with my remarkable, supportive wife and five wonderful children, now is that time.”
A source told Us at the time that Chambers “struggled for years because of the grueling schedule of filming Grey’s” and the show took a “toll” on his health.
Whether He’ll Return: The source added that they didn’t kill off Alex to keep the door open for Chambers to return.
Vernoff, meanwhile, addressed the possibility of both Heigl and Chambers returning in April 2020. “When I left the show in season 7, people asked me if there was any chance of me ever coming back,” she said. “I was smart enough to say, ‘Never say never.’ Here I am, so who knows?”
Brooke Smith (Erica Hahn)
When: Season 5, Episode 7
How AND why: “I’m not written out. My final scene is just me heading to my car. I honestly don’t know what happens in the next episode. I heard not much,” she told EW at the time. “[Shonda] did seem upset. I wasn’t having a very good week that week. I was like, ‘Oh, God, what is it with this business?!’ And she said, ‘No, no, no. You are such a great actress. We love you.’ It seemed like some decision came down from above. It didn’t feel like it was her.”
Rhimes, for her part, said at the time, “We did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke’s character would sustain in the long run.”
Whether She’ll Return: Smith hasn’t said much publicly about whether or not she would be interested in coming back to the series after her hasty departure.
Patrick Dempsey (Derek Shepherd)
When: Season 11, Episode 21
How: Derek died in part after doctors at a neighboring hospital failed to do a CT scan after he was in a car accident.
Why: Dempsey said he was ready for new challenges and a less demanding schedule after a decade on the series. “It’s 10 months, 15 hours a day,” he told EW in 2015. “You never know your schedule, so your kid asks you, ‘What are you doing on Monday?’ and you go, ‘I don’t know,’ because I don’t know my schedule. Doing that for 11 years is challenging. … What I would like to do is focus on not being spread so thin. Those days are over!”
Whether He’ll Return: Fans were shocked to see Dempsey in the season 17 premiere. He filmed four scenes for the season.
