Eric Dane believes he was fired from “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The “Euphoria” star, 51, opened up about his exit from the long-running ABC series after starring as Dr. Mark Sloan for six seasons from 2006 to 2012.
“I didn’t leave so much as I think I was let go,” Dane admitted on Friday’s episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast.
When Shepard noted the actor was “struggling” with drug and alcohol addiction toward the end of his run on the series, Dane responded, “I was struggling. They didn’t let me go because of that, although it definitely didn’t help.”
Dane clarified that he believes he was let go due to financial reasons.
“I was starting to become — as most of these actors who have spent significant time on the show — you start to become very expensive for the network,” he said.
“And the network knows that the show is going to do what it’s going to do irrespective of who they keep on it—as long as they have their Grey they were fine.”
He went on to explain that he “wasn’t the same guy they had hired” so he understood when the producers decided to let him go.
Dane also praised the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, for being “really great” throughout the ordeal.
“She protected us fiercely. She protected us publicly, she protected us privately… I love Shonda Rhimes and she protected me but I was probably fired,” Dane recalled.
“It wasn’t ceremoniously like, ‘You’re fired,’ it was just like, ‘You’re not coming back,’” he said.
The “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” actor said he was sober for “three or four years” before he was hired on “Grey’s” but relapsed during the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike.
“If you take the whole eight years I was on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ I was f—ed up longer than I was sober and that was when things started going sideways for me,” he shared.
Dane’s character died as a result of the plane crash featured in the Season 8 finale. While he survived that specific episode, his character eventually passed away at the start of Season 9.
He later did returned for a guest appearance in Season 17 alongside Chyler Leigh, who played his onscreen love interest, Lexie Grey. Leigh’s character also died in the crash.
