‘Will & Grace’: Megan Mullally Will Miss ‘Multiple’ Season 11 Episodes, Fueling On-Set Drama Rumors

Will & Grace will be missing a key character for multiple episodes in its final season. Is on-set drama to blame? Ahead of the NBC comedy series’ final season premiere, TVLine reported Megan Mullaly took leave of absence from filming the series. The break means Karen will be missing from two episodes of the show.

The outlet writes there was not a clear reason for Mullally’s leave of absence, though it comes amid rumors of drama going on between her and co-star Debra Messing.

The rumors began earlier this year after some fans noticed Messing and Mullally stopped following each other on Instagram. In posts promoting the series since the return, the actresses have rarely been seen together. The publication also wrote Mullally stopped following her on-screen sidekick, Sean Hayes, as well.

Eric McCormack, who Mullally reportedly still follows on social media, told Us Weekly in September all rumors of a rift between the co-stars are fiction.

“It seems crazy. It is crazy!” He said at the time. “I think people worried about that entirely too much.”

“The four of us get along like a house on fire, we always have,” he added.

The feud rumors also lead some fans to believe the animosity between the co-stars was the reason behind the reboot series coming to an end. McCormack squashed that belief as well at the time.

The series premiered Thursday after initially being set to come back in 2020 for an uninterrupted run. The show took over new show Sunnyside’s timeslot after it was pulled off the primetime schedule.

“We think of the Will & Grace reboot episodes the way Karen Walker thinks of martinis – 51 is not enough, 53 is too many. That is why, after consulting with the cast, we all have decided this will be the final season of Will and Grace,” creators Max Mutchnick, David Kohan and exec producer/director Jimmy Burrows said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter when the final season announcement news broke in July. “In 2016, Bob Greenblatt came to us with the idea of doing a 10-episode reboot of Will & Grace. They say you can’t go home again, but we did. And now, three seasons and 52 episodes later, we’re even more proud of something we never thought we’d get a chance to do again. We have had a once-in-a-lifetime experience twice. And for that, we owe a double debt of gratitude to NBC, this show’s supportive and caring home since day one.”

Will & Grace airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC.