BTS Drama That Led to Blue Bloods' Jennifer Esposito Getting Fired

Summary

• In the final episode of season 13, we saw the touching reunion of Danny and Jackie.
• In 2012, Jackie's character Jennifer Esposito was fired from the project due to what she believed to be her illness.
• However, despite the controversy, the conflict has been forgotten and there is a possibility that the character will return in the final season.

Well folks, tonight the first episode of the fourteenth season of Blue Bloods will air on CBS, marking the beginning of the end of the 14-year saga of the famous family rooted in New York City law enforcement. This moment will be truly significant in American pop culture history, as over the years the family cop drama has been a Friday night television staple for millions of Americans across the country.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many TV series productions, there was some very unpleasant drama behind the scenes of what fans thought was a warm family of cast and crew. Some even felt the whole situation was laced with bigotry and cynical exploitation of the actors' labor. Fortunately, the story ended well, but it took more than a decade to come to fruition.

2012 Jennifer Esposito Firing Scandal

Jennifer Esposito, who played Detective Jackie Curatola, had been suffering from celiac disease, an autoimmune condition of the small intestine that causes severe gluten intolerance, for several years when the first seasons were filmed. As a result, the actress collapsed on set one day, but instead of support from CBS, Esposito faced dismissal.

After the on-set incident, her doctor advised her to take a week off, but then CBS decided to fire the actress for allegedly trying to demand a pay raise (after the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, this sounds particularly ironic and even cynical on the part of the network).

'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!' the actress wrote on Twitter at the time. 'It's been almost two months without bringing me back to work and keeping me from working anywhere else! Absolutely shameful behavior.'

In response, the public received only a meaningless statement from the CBS office that Esposito would not be able to participate in the project due to a 'limited part-time schedule.' The actress proclaimed such a decision as discriminatory.

'CBS got rid of the only minority cast member so they can have an ALL WHITE CAST like CSI," she wrote.

A Happy Ending to The Controversial Story

Luckily, such an unprecedented drama for Blue Bloods, which if not for the ratings (and the early 2010s, when it was still common to turn a blind eye to the problematic nature of many productions) would have threatened to cancel the show altogether, has exhausted itself. Only they had to wait about 11 years to finally put an end to the old scandal!

Viewers may remember that Jackie Curatola returned to the police force in Season 13, this time as Chief of Police. Even though her job is no longer in New York City, but in a small town in Suffolk County, it was great to see a once beloved character in good health and with even more power and authority. In the season finale, Jackie and Danny were reunited as a result of Dr. Walker 's serial killings.

It is not yet known if Jennifer Esposito will appear in Season 14: although Walker has escaped and has yet to be caught, Danny will be in charge of hunting the criminal as he and Curatola have finally gone their separate ways, with a pleasant nostalgia for past collaborations but the realization that they both want different things out of life. However, she may still make an appearance in the final season if Walker wants to get back at her.

The first part of Blue Bloods Season 14 will premiere on February 16, 2024 at 10 pm ET.

Source: X.