‘Blue Bloods’ Alum Jennifer Esposito Shuts Down Fan Speculation Over How Personal Health Issues Led to Her Exit

Jennifer Esposito took notice of one fan’s alleged reasoning as to why she stepped away from Blue Bloods and spoke up against the claims. On Dec. 19, fans were taking action expressing their disappointment in seeing the actress, who starred on the series for three seasons, has been gone from the show for so long. She saw her run as Det. Jackie Curatola on the series end back in 2012. Responding to a fan who screenshoted a previous PopCulture.com article about her exit, Esposito quickly shut down one fan’s response claiming it was personal health issues that led to her departure.

“It is my understanding that due to her issues with IBS she missed too much work to stay on Blue Bloods,” the fan wrote.

She quipped back, “That is completely incorrect.”

While that was the last interaction from Esposito, the original commenter did respond to her message. “Jennifer, that was what I read at the time,” they wrote. “And I know people with IBS, and friends that have dogs with IBS, and it is a very difficult thing to deal with. So it made sense at the time. I was sad you weren’t on the show anymore.”

In 2012 after her departure from the CBS series, Esposito shared on Twitter the details behind the controversial exit. At the time, she cited how the network put her on unpaid leave after she was urged by a doctor to cut back her work due to celiac.

“CBS PUT me on unpaid leave an has blocked me from working anywhere else after my doctor said u needed a reduced schedule due to celiac,” she wrote back in 2012. “CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw! 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!… Absolutely shameful behavior.”

To that, CBS issued a statement that shared the network had to move on and put her character on hiatus as a result.

“Jennifer has informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule,” the statement read. “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. She is a wonderfully talented actress, and we hope that she will be able to return at some point in the future.”