Sarah Drew Says Her 'Grey's Anatomy' Exit Was 'Mean and Unjust'

Grey’s Anatomy alum Sarah Drew was blunt about her exit from the hospital drama at the end of Season 14 during her recent visit to the “Call It What It Is” podcast, hosted by Jessica Capshaw and Camilla Luddington. 

Drew and Capshaw were both written out of the show during the Season 14 finale. In the episode, her character, April, married her ex-boyfriend Matthew (Justin Bruening) and left Grey Sloan Memorial to do missionary first responder work. Arizona (Capshaw) declared in the episode that she would be moving to New York to reunite with Callie (Sara Ramirez) and their daughter. 

“We were unceremoniously let go in a way that felt mean and unjust, and, because of that, the outpouring of love was so enormous it was like you were sitting there watching people [eulogize you],” Drew said on the podcast. 

At the time of her exit, Drew told fans in a Twitter statement that she had very little notice about her departure from the show.  “Thank you for all the love. I know you’re sad. I’m sad, too. I haven’t really had time to process this information. I’ve been with it for less than 48 hours, so I’m not ready to say my thank you and give an encompassing statement about my 9 years here. That will come later. For now, I’d like to say: I love you, and I love April and her story isn’t over yet,” she wrote at the time. 

And she wasn’t wrong. Drew has returned to the show twice since leaving in 2018. She returned in Season 18 to help Jesse Williams exit his character Jackson Avery, who shares a child with April, from the series. She also came back in Season 19 to confirm that Jackson and April had reunited off-screen. Drew says that she’s made it to a place where guest-starring on the show is no longer complicated. 

“I have no attachment to [the show] at all,” Drew explained on the podcast. “I had zero anxiety [going back because] I don’t need anything from anyone on that set anymore. They’re not responsible for my livelihood anymore. They’re not responsible for my success or my joy… I’m like, ‘Hey! This is a fun spot to come visit.'”

Drew has made enough peace with the show that she was also able to share some behind-the-scenes secrets of her early days as April Kepner. Later in the podcast, the actress revealed that April was at one point supposed to have a one-night stand with Mark Sloan (Eric Dane) before it was established she was a devout Christian and a virgin. 

“Before they made my character love Jesus and a virgin, there’s a scene where Sloan and Reed have sex, a random one-night stand. That was supposed to be me originally. It was supposed to be April,” Drew detailed. “April was supposed to have some random one-off with Sloan and it was in the original production draft [of the script], and then they changed it. I didn’t have anything to do with it, but then they changed their mind.” 

Future April appearances on Grey’s Anatomy are not out of the question — Williams just returned for the Season 21 premiere — but right now Drew is working on other things. She can next seen on Mistletoe Murders, which premieres Oct. 31 on Hallmark. 

Grey’s Anatomy continues Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET.