Paget Brewster Recalls Her Anger After Being Fired From 'Criminal Minds'

Erin CrabtreeTue, April 28, 2026 at 1:19 AM UTC

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Criminal Minds just wouldn’t be the same without Paget Brewster, but her future on the show was put in jeopardy when she was fired.

The actress, 57, recounted her termination from the CBS procedural during the Monday, April 27, episode of iHeartRadio’s “Are You a Charlotte?” podcast with Kristin Davis. While sharing her version of events, Brewster—who has portrayed Emily Prentiss since season 2—recalled filming a backdoor pilot for another series during an episode of Criminal Minds.

“Apparently, this is what I heard, when Les Moonves—who is the now famously ousted president of CBS—when he got the pilot inside of our episode, it was the first time he’d watched the show [in a while],” she 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.”

After season 5 ended in 2010, Brewster and Cook, 47—known for her role as Jennifer “JJ” Jareau—were let go from Criminal Minds. However, Brewster ultimately returned for several season 6 episodes after her “agent went in and had a big fight” with the network, according to the Friends alum.

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Cook was eventually brought back to the show as a main cast member for season 7. While Brewster was also asked to return full-time, she opted to leave Criminal Minds after season 7 concluded in 2012 because she was “so mad” about her initial firing. During her break from the CBS series, she appeared on several other shows, including Community, Grandfathered and Another Period.

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Four years later, Brewster reconsidered her decision to stay away from Criminal Minds.

“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,” she recalled. “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.’”

Brewster subsequently agreed to return during season 12 in 2016. After her co-star Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner) was fired in August 2016 following an onset altercation, she was promoted to a series regular, and her character, Emily, replaced Hotch as the chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

At the time, Brewster requested equal pay to her male co-stars, which allowed her female castmates to ask for the same.

“I fought to try to get my episodic fee close to what the men were making ‘cause we were always paid less,” she said. “I was like, ‘Well, I kind of have them over a barrel. They need me more than I need this show.’ So, I got my episode fee way up from what it was. Then when the other female cast members, their contracts were up, so I said, ‘This is what I got. Go get more.’ … So then, they went in and they got big raises.”

After more than 200 episodes, Brewster is still playing Emily today. She made her debut as the character in 2006 and will return for season 19 in May.

This story was originally published by Parade on Apr 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”