Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays matriarch Beverly Goldberg on the ABC sitcom “The Goldbergs,” said on Andy Cohen Live that the December 2021 exit of former costar Jeff Garlin was “a long time coming.”
When Cohen asked her how she felt about Garlin leaving after several complaints had been made about his on-set behavior, she said, “That was a long time coming. And that it finally happened it was like, ‘OK, OK. Finally, someone is listening to us.’”
When the show returned for its 10th and final season in September, Garlin’s character Murray was revealed to have died after the events of Season 9.
She admitted that losing another core cast member was “hard” following the death of George Segal, who played her character’s father. “To have go to through another loss on a sitcom, you can’t keep asking your audience to mourn people. That’s not why they tune in.”
McLendon-Covey said she didn’t want to go into more details.
“I’m exhausted by that topic and the PTSD of it all,” she laughed.
She added, “I feel like the less people know about that, the better. No one benefits from knowing anything.” Unnamed former employees of the show told Vanity Fair in September 2021 that Garlin “engaged in a pattern of verbal and physical conduct on set that made people uncomfortable.”
“The Goldbergs” series finale airs on Wednesday, May 3, on ABC.
McLendon-Covey has already lined up her next project — she’s starring in a comedy pilot “St. Denis Medical” for NBC.
