One of the most iconic stars of the CBS police procedural crime drama television series “Criminal Minds” has revealed why she returned to the popular show after being fired.
Paget Brewster plays FBI Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss on the show. She has done so in various stints. First, from 2006 until 2012, then in 2014, then from 2016 until 2020, and her current stint, which began in 2022.
Brewster, 57, sat down with Kristin Davis â “Sex and the City’s” Charlotte York â for her “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast on Monday, April 27. The episode’s full title was “BS Bagels with Paget Brewster… (S4 E7 “Time and Punishment”).”
On the show, she provided a revealing insight into her comings and goings from “Criminal Minds,” which included her controversial firing.
Paget Brewster Says the Former CBS President ‘Didn’t Like’ Her
Per Just Jared, Paget Brewster told Kristin Davis that she believes CBS fired her because the network’s former President Les Moonves disliked her.
Brewster says they had just filmed a backdoor pilot for a potential “Criminal Minds” spin-off series. When Mooves â who quit his role in 2018 after allegations of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse came to light â watched the pilot, it was the first time he’d seen anything related to “Criminal Minds” in a while.
The actress said, “We think he saw the show for the first time in years and just said, ‘Oh, I don’t like those women. Get rid of those women.’ And so, A.J. Cook and I were fired.”
Cook returned to show briefly in season 6, having left during season 5. She later came back as a full-time cast member in season 7.
Brewster continued, saying CBS offered her a full-time contract, but she decided to leave after season 7 because of how “mad” she was at them.
She elaborated, “I really did hold on to that anger for too long. It was an unhealthy thing to hold onto. Because A.J. and I were like, ‘We were early, we knew our lines, we never got into fights.’ We were really angry. I held onto the anger for too long, and after four years, I finally thought, ‘Why am I not [on the show]? I love everyone there, I just don’t like Les Moonves, and I never have to see him because he doesn’t care about this show.’”
Ultimately, Brewster delighted fans by returning permanently in season 12, staying until the show culminated with 2020’s season 15. Her character took over from the fired Thomas Gibson’s Aaron Hotchner.
Most recently, she returned in 2022 for the show’s ongoing revived iteration, titled “Criminal Minds: Evolution.”
Paget Brewster’s Other Endeavors
Away from “Criminal Minds: Evolution,” Paget Brewster is a busy lady.
She spends a lot of time on her Instagram account, notably posting a lot of food content and art content for her 498,000 followers to enjoy.
Per IMDb, her additional roles on the big and small screens have been plentiful in recent years.
Since 2020, her credits include the likes of 2022’s psychological horror movie “Hypochondriac” and television shows like “DuckTales,” “Hollywood,” “Birdgirl,” “Behind the Attraction,” “How I Met Your Father,” “Krapopolis,” and “The Simpsons.”
It’s great to see Paget Brewster playing Emily Prentiss again. We wish her well with her acting career and hope to see more delicious food and lovely art on her social media in the future.
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