According to a statement that showrunner Krista Vernoff gave to Deadline, Drew and Capshaw's departures were due to where Grey's Anatomy was creatively heading. Drew often posts behind-the-scenes photos of Grey, including this photo of her and Capshaw a couple of weeks ago. Capshaw wrote: “For the past ten years I have had the rare privilege of not only playing Arizona Robbins, but also of being madly in love with playing her. When asked, Callie tells Arizona that she was the one who made the call anyway, and that she wanted her to have Alex and to be angry only at her.
As for Drew, she hinted in her own Twitter statement that April's decision to leave Grey's Anatomy was not her choice. Arizona Robbins is kind, intelligent, funny, insightful, bold, playful, fierce and very good at her job, Capshaw tweeted in March. April Kepner is a treating trauma surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and joined from Mercy West Medical Center following the merger. Naturally, Grey's fans were quick to establish the connection between Jessica's jersey and the Arizona character, speculating that the mention of New York City was a possible clue to Arizona's future return to Grey's Anatomy.
Keep reading after the jump to discover the real reason Jessica Capshaw left Grey's Anatomy and why some fans don't even realize she said goodbye to the show. The special virtual event, where the stars of Grey's Anatomy talked about the series to raise funds for The Actors Fund, was attended by many current cast members, including Chandra Wilson, James Pickens and Kelly McCreary. You can always relive her time as Arizona Robbins with the first 16 seasons of streaming Grey on Netflix now. But what some may not remember is that Arizona left Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital to move to New York City, leaving the show at the end of season 14 to be reunited with Callie and her daughter, Sofia, in the Big Apple.
Grey's Anatomy has been on the air for 17 seasons and, in that time, it seems that we've said goodbye to more characters than we've all had a hot dinner collectively. Although some fans linked the decision by the producers of Grey's Anatomy to remove Jessica Capshaw from the show after an extensive contract renewal with ABC, others didn't realize that it coincided not only with Ellen Pompeo's decision to remain on Grey's Anatomy with the exception of a salary increase, but also a reviving the discussion about wage inequality and gender also within the entertainment industry. And the really good news (at least for me) is that I'm here on set following one of my favorite people, Kevin McKidd, with my beloved Grey family all this week and the next, so I can process all my feelings surrounded by the community that has nurtured and nurtured me for almost a decade. Unfortunately for the actress, Grey's viewers, in turn, blamed the Capshaw hack on budget restrictions, which Pompeo vehemently denied.
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