Jeff Garlin’s abrupt exit from The Goldbergs may have come as a surprise to us — but not to one of his former co-stars.
Wendi McLendon-Covey, who stars on the ABC sitcom as mom Beverly, now says of Garlin’s departure: “That was a long time coming.” She addressed the controversy in a Sirius XM interview with Andy Cohen on Tuesday, adding that when Garlin did leave the show, “it was like, ‘OK, OK, someone’s finally listening to us.’”
McLendon-Covey later nodded and agreed when Cohen speculated that Garlin’s exit was a culmination of many complaints against him, but she then asked if they could not talk about it any further, noting that she’s “exhausted by that topic and the PTSD of it all… I just feel like the less people know about that, the better. No one benefits from knowing anything.”
Garlin, who played Beverly’s husband Murray Goldberg, left the show in December 2021 following a human resources investigation stemming from several complaints about the comedian’s on-set behavior. In subsequent Season 9 episodes, pre-recorded dialogue and a body double were employed for Murray, with Garlin’s face superimposed in post-production. In September’s Season 10 premiere, it was revealed that Murray had passed away, although it was not specified how he had died.
First premiering back in 2013, The Goldbergs will wrap up its run with a series finale on Wednesday, May 3. Loosely based on the life of creator Adam F. Goldberg, the series currently stars McLendon-Covey (as Beverly), Sean Giambrone (as Adam), Troy Gentile (as Barry), Hayley Orrantia (as Erica) and Sam Lerner (as Erica’s husband Geoff).