Pauley Perrette’s exit from NCIS in 2018 after 15 years on the show shocked fans, especially given how beloved her character, Abby Sciuto, had become. Abby, with her signature Gothic style and upbeat personality, captured the hearts of viewers and made Pauley one of the most popular actresses on U.S. primetime television at the time. So, what led to her departure from the show, and what has she said about it? Here’s a closer look at the reasons behind her exit and what followed,

After the episode aired, Pauley took to Twitter with a series of cryptic posts that seemed to reference the incident. One of her tweets read, “I refused to go low, that’s why I’ve never told publicly what happened. But there are tabloid articles out there that are telling total lies about me. If you believe them? Please leave me alone. You clearly don’t know me.” She continued