Why Eric Dane Left Grey’s Anatomy

Eric Dane’s been in plenty of things at this point, but you definitely know him best from his time on ABC’s long-running TV drama juggernaut Grey’s Anatomy.

Eric played Mark Sloan on Grey’s for six years — from 2006 to 2012, specifically. He also came back on the show for a guest spot in 2021, but we won’t go into the specifics of that appearance because it’s a big spoiler.

So, Eric recently appeared on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, and during the episode he went into the exact specifics (as he sees it, at least) around his Grey’s departure — which, he really hasn’t spoken about in the past.

“I didn’t leave so much as I think I was let go,” he said, noting that he was “struggling” at the time with substance abuse issues.

“They didn’t let me go because of that, although it definitely didn’t help,” he specified, before also explaining that his longevity on the show itself — and the resulting price tag of his salary that came with it — was likely the reason why he eventually took his final bow.

“As most of these actors who have spent significant time on the show, you start to become very expensive for the network,” he explained.

“And the network knows that the show is going to do what it’s going to do irrespective of who they keep on it—as long as they have their Grey, they were fine.”

Eric also said that he “wasn’t the same guy they hired” by the end of his run, and that he “understood” when, and why, his number was up — and he had nothing but kind words for Grey’s head honcho Shonda Rhimes, too.

“She protected us fiercely,” he said of Shonda, who he also called “really great.” “She protected us publicly, she protected us privately…I love Shonda Rhimes and she protected me but I was probably fired.”

“It wasn’t ceremoniously like, ‘You’re fired,’ it was just like, ‘You’re not coming back.’”