Paget Brewster is pulling back the curtain on one of the most controversial moments in “Criminal Minds” history. The actress, who has long been a fan favorite as Emily Prentiss, recently opened up about the real reason she was fired from the CBS drama years ago—and how she used her return to ensure her female costars got paid what they deserved.
During a candid appearance on the Monday, April , episode of Kristin Davis’s “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast, Brewster, , took fans back to the mid-s. It was a time of major upheaval for the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and according to Brewster, the drama behind the scenes was just as intense as the cases on screen.
The Real Reason for the Firings
Brewster alleged that her departure—and that of her costar A.J. Cook—wasn’t due to creative differences or ratings, but rather a snap judgment from the top of the corporate ladder. She claimed that Les Moonves, the then-president of CBS, decided to shake up the cast after watching a “backdoor pilot” for a spinoff series embedded within a regular episode.
“Apparently, this is what I heard, when Les Moonves… when he got the pilot inside of our episode, it was the first time he’d watched the show [in a while],” Brewster claimed. “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.”
The news of the firings sparked an immediate outcry from the “Criminal Minds” fandom at the time, with many taking to social media (then largely X, formerly Twitter) to demand the return of Prentiss and JJ.
Holding Onto the Anger
While Cook returned as a series regular in Season , Brewster admitted she struggled to let go of the frustration. Though she returned for several episodes in Season after her agent “had a big fight” with the network, she ultimately chose to walk away after Season .
“I really did hold on to that anger for too long,” she recalled on the podcast. “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.”
Brewster spent four years exploring comedy, appearing in hits like “Community” and “Grandfathered,” before realizing that her love for her castmates outweighed her resentment toward network executives.
Negotiating for the Girls
When Brewster finally agreed to return full-time in Season —following the high-profile firing of Thomas Gibson—she knew she had the upper hand. She decided to use her leverage to address the gender pay gap on set.
“I fought to try to get my episodic fee close to what the men were making ’cause we were always paid less,” Brewster explained. “I was like, ‘Well, I kind of have them over a barrel. They need me more than I need this show.'”
Not only did Brewster secure a significant raise for herself, but she also used her new salary as a benchmark for her female costars. “I said, ‘This is what I got. Go get more.’ … So then, they went in and they got big raises,” she shared.
A New Chapter for the BAU
Fans are currently celebrating the enduring bond of the “Criminal Minds” cast, especially as the series continues its successful revival, “Criminal Minds: Evolution,” on Paramount+. The show recently tugged at heartstrings with a powerful storyline involving the funeral of Will LaMontagne Jr., which brought several OG characters back together on screen.
As the team prepares for the Season premiere on May , Brewster’s revelations serve as a reminder of the off-screen battles fought to keep the BAU family together. With Prentiss now leading the unit, it’s clear that Brewster’s fight for respect and equality paid off in more ways than one.
