Actress Jennifer Esposito is at war with CBS after being let go without pay from the hit series Blue Bloods. Esposito, who plays Donnie Wahlberg's partner Jackie Curatola has had her scenes reduced on the show because she suffers from Celiac disease. But when the network decided to sideline her and replace her without pay, she took to Twitter to slam the network for their "shameful behavior."
“CBS knows [it] PUT me on unpaid leave [and] has blocked me from working anywhere else after my doc said u needed a reduced schedule due to celiac,” wrote Esposito, adding, “CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw!”
She continued, “After a week off my doc said I could return to work but CBS… implied that I was NOT truly ill and this was a scheme to get a raise! It’s been almost two months without brining me back to work + keeping [me] from working anywhere else!”
Says CBS in a statement:
“Jennifer has informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she’s unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence.”
The network added, “She is a wonderfully talented actress and we hope that she will be able to return at some point in the future.”
Here is what Esposito’s lawyer William J. Briggs II told the New York Post: “Jennifer and her doctor requested she be allowed to work on a reduced schedule. CBS has refused to accommodate this request, has replaced her character on the series, but will not let her out of her contract, or permit her to work on any other production.”
I personally liked her character on the show and I am quite upset that she's being let go. To prevent someone from working anywhere else is justp lain ridiculous, which is why I like the way basic and premium cable channels work with their actors. If you work on a show, like say, The Big C you can make a guest appearance on a network show like The Good Wife, which I just saw John Benjamin Hickey do. I can understand if the writers want to have Danny Reagan's character have equal footing with a partner of his, but to get rid of someone because they have an autoimmune disease in my opinion is discrimination. She may have a case on her hands.
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