Why Pauley Perrette Left NCIS After 15 Seasons
Pauley Perrette left "NCIS" in Season 15 with her character, Abby Sciuto, written out of the show alive and well. However, her send-off was less positive behind the scenes, as Perrette reportedly parted ways with the CBS series due to feeling unsafe around Mark Harmon and his dog.
"The dog was Harmon's, and apparently the dog bit someone," Charles Floyd Johnson, an executive producer, told The Hollywood Reporter. "Pauley was a huge, huge SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] animal person. And then the dog kept coming with Harmon, and she felt it wasn't safe for the show. By the end of that year, she just felt like it wasn't working for her anymore, and it was time to move on."
Perrette confirmed that she left "NCIS" because she felt scared of Harmon and his dog on the set. She also noted that she spoke up about the canine attacking a crew member, with the show's higher-ups seemingly siding with Harmon.
"There is a 'machine' keeping me silent, and feeding FALSE stories about me," Perrette wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "A very rich, very powerful publicity 'machine'. No morals, no obligation to truth, and I'm just left here, reading the lies, trying to protect my crew. Trying to remain calm. He did it."
Harmon left "NCIS" in 2021, though he has since returned to the franchise to narrate the "Origins" spin-off.
Pauley Perrette has retired from acting since leaving NCIS
"NCIS" fans shouldn't get their hopes up about seeing Abby Sciuto return to work on another case. While speaking to Hello!, Pauley Perrette revealed that she has officially retired from acting following her stints on "NCIS" and "Broke," as her new passion lies in producing documentaries like 2023's "Studio One Forever."
"At this point in my life I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything," she said. "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."