Jeff Garlin has opened up about his exit from The Goldbergs, saying he was undiagnosed with bipolar disorder during the show’s run and that the condition made him “mean” on set. The actor spoke on The Daily Beast’s “Obsessed” podcast, where he admitted he was miserable on the show and unhappy with his performance.
After an HR investigation into several allegations of improper behavior, Garlin departed the ABC sitcom in 2021, ending a run during which he starred opposite Wendi McLendon-Covey across ten seasons and 229 episodes, spanning from 2013 to 2023.
“At the time, I was undiagnosed bipolar,” Garlin said on the podcast. “I was miserable on the show, and I was miserable with my performance. And [Wendi] was always trying to tell me, ‘Hey, you’re really great on the show.’ I didn’t believe her. I just got to the point where I had to quit, and she was very resentful.”
The three stages of the condition were described by him, including “dark, dark, dark, dark, didn’t talk and look at anyone; happy to the point of mania, never turning off my thing; or mean — really, really mean.”.
McLendon-Covey Disputes His Account
On Instagram, McLendon-Covey answered Garlin’s remarks, arguing against the account he offered of what happened.
“Huh. Let’s just say I remember things very differently, as does the crew, the other actors, the writers, and our executives,” she posted.
The dispute between the two stars hinges on whether Garlin’s departure was voluntary and a mutual agreement, and on whether the workplace was genuinely unsafe.
The HR Investigation and Garlin’s Own Words
Two people close to the production told Variety that Garlin’s exit from The Goldbergs came after a mutual decision between the actor and the network when he left in 2021. Before that, he spoke with Vanity Fair about the claims against him, admitting that an HR probe into his conduct on set had been going on for the last three years.
“We have a difference of opinion, Sony and myself. Okay. My opinion is, I have my process about how I’m funny, in terms of the scene and what I have to do. They feel that it makes for a quote ‘unsafe’ workspace,” Garlin said at the time.
“Now, mind you, my silliness making an unsafe workspace — I don’t understand how that is… I am always a kind and thoughtful person. I make mistakes, sure. But my comedy is about easing people’s pain. Why would I ever want to cause pain in anybody for a laugh? That’s bullying. That’s just uncalled for.”
Garlin faced a variety of complaints, including being accused of unwanted physical contact with people on set and making jokes that made others feel uncomfortable.
McLendon-Covey’s Take on the Exit
During an interview with Andy Cohen for SiriusXM, McLendon-Covey said that Garlin’s exit was “a long time coming.”.
“That it finally happened, it was like, ‘Ok, finally someone is listening to us.’ But that was kind of hard though because we had lost George Segal in real life,” she added. “To have to go through another loss on a sitcom…you can’t keep asking your audience to mourn people. That’s not why they tune in… I’m exhausted by that topic and the PTSD of it all. I just feel like the less people know about that, the better. No one benefits from knowing anything.”
The Show’s Response to His Departure
“The Goldbergs” was filming its ninth season when Garlin was fired. Producers decided to keep his character on screen for the rest of the season using off-camera dialogue and unused takes from earlier episodes, along with previously shot images of Garlin. The actor’s stand-in was used in group scenes, but he was shot from the back.
Social media users complained about the awkward visual result, which prompted a response from McLendon-Covey at the time.
“This season threw us for a loop because it’s hard to incorporate someone who doesn’t want to be there and wants to leave mid-scene, and we weren’t about to rewrite the second half of the season,” the comedian wrote on Twitter at the time. “We’re doing our best.”
The Final Season and the Character’s Death
Last fall, when The Goldbergs began its 10th and final season, the show chose to kill off Garlin’s character.
| Detail | Garlin’s Account | McLendon-Covey’s Account |
|---|---|---|
| Exit type | Mutual decision per two sources close to production | Undisclosed, implied disagreement |
| Workplace safety | Unsafe due to his behavior | Disagrees with his characterization |
| Memory of events | Miserable, miserable with performance | Remembers things very differently, supported by crew, actors, writers, executives |
| Exit timing | After HR investigation into alleged misconduct | Long time coming |
What We Know About the Condition
He left the show before doctors gave him a diagnosis. Once it arrived, he detailed his condition in three separate ways.
- Dark, withdrawn, not talking to anyone
- Manic, hyperactive, unable to turn off
- Mean, genuinely unpleasant behavior
The way he described the condition points to it affecting his mood and behavior in ways that could disrupt a working environment, even prior to the allegations surfacing.
The Broader Context of the Exit
The show’s handling of Garlin’s departure was notable. Rather than simply removing his character, producers chose to continue his storyline through stock footage and a stand-in. The awkwardness of the approach drew complaints on social media, with viewers lodging objections publicly.
McLendon-Covey’s response to Garlin’s comments suggests she believes his account of events is incomplete. She framed the crew’s shared memory as a counterweight to his version, implying that the show’s creative team saw a different reality than the one Garlin described.
Our Take on the Story
The revelation that Garlin has an undiagnosed case of bipolar disorder adds another element to his departure tale, though it fails to settle the disagreement with McLendon-Covey. Both accounts of what happened — his unhappiness and her anger at him — stand side by side, each backed up by a different cast member’s version of the story.
The fatigue McLendon-Covey voices in her SiriusXM interview reflects the strain the situation has placed on the entire cast and crew.
If you follow the show, the conclusion is plain: The Goldbergs has reached its end, and the particulars of how it concluded will probably stay open. Garlin’s condition provides a possible reason for his conduct, yet it fails to resolve the doubt about whether he left on his own terms or under pressure.
The show has moved on.
Source material: “Jeff Garlin Says ‘Undiagnosed Bipolar’ Made Him ‘Mean’ on ‘The Goldbergs’ Set; Wendi McLendon-Covey Responds: ‘I Remember Things Differently’,” Variety.
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