‘The Goldbergs’ Star Gets Super Candid on Jeff Garlin’s Exit
The Goldbergs star Wendi McLendon-Covey, who for nine seasons played Jeff Garlin’s on-screen wife in the ABC sitcom, has addressed the actor’s exit from the series in its 10th season. Speaking on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on Tuesday, McLendon-Covey said the show’s decision to kill off Garlin’s character “was a long time coming.”
“That was a long time coming,” the Reno 911 alum said. “And that it finally happened? It was like, ‘OK… Finally, someone is listening to us.’”
In December of 2021, Garlin brushed off the rumor that he’d been fired from The Goldbergs. As journalist Maureen Ryan reported for Vanity Fair, three former Goldberg employees alleged that Garlin had engaged in verbal or physical behaviors that had made some people uncomfortable on set. Less than two weeks after the interview’s publication, Garlin’s departure became official following an HR investigation—a decision The Hollywood Reporter described as mutual between Garlin and the show’s production company, Sony Pictures Television.