14 DAY TRIAL // Jennifer Esposito has been playing Jackie Curatola on “Blue Bloods” for three seasons but her character is going on an indefinite leave after CBS has decided to sideline the star because of a medical condition. As expected, Esposito is livid.
Over the weekend, the network issued a statement to Deadline saying that Esposito had informed them that she would no longer be available full time for the job.
Her place would be filled in by guest stars, CBS said.
“Jennifer has informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she’s unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence,” read the official statement.
As Esposito herself explains on her Twitter feed, this wasn’t how things went down, at all. She’d been on medical leave for her Celiac disease and wanted her time on set cut down because of the same condition.
CBS bosses sidelined her character instead, putting her on unpaid leave when she was actually entitled to medical.
“CBS PUT me on unpaid leave and has blocked me from working anywhere else after my doctor said you needed a reduced schedule due to Celiac,” the actress says on Twitter.
“CBS didn’t listen to my doc and I collapsed on set. Which everyone saw! 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!” Jennifer adds.
“It’s been almost two months without bringing me back to work + keeping Me from working anywhere else!… Absolutely shameful behavior,” she concludes.
So far, no word back from CBS but, at the very least, Jennifer is getting a lot of love, understanding and support from her fans online.