Cote de Pablo, who played Special Agent Ziva Davis for eight seasons, decided to leave "NCIS" just days before Season 11 was set to begin filming. Even her colleagues did not see it coming. "I found out literally 20 minutes before it was released in the press," co-star Pauley Perrette told E! News in 2013. "She had a personal decision to make. No one wanted her to leave." Perrette insisted, however, that there really wasn't any more scoop behind the story. "There was no drama ... there really isn't much to tell," she said.
Not all of de Pablo's former co-stars were as chill about her exit, though. David McCallum, who played Donald "Ducky" Mallard, had some choice words. "It was frustration and anger that someone should just walk out on us," he told Digital Spy. "I just don't understand how a leading lady in a show that's worldwide, who ostensibly wants to have a career as an actress, suddenly walks away from such a gem and just vanishes a couple of days before we start production."
CBS honchos weren't willing to let her go easily, either. Former CBS CEO Les Moonves said he did everything he could to try to keep her on board. "I really want to clarify: We offered Cote de Pablo a lot of money. And then we offered her even more money," he said, according to E! News. "We really didn't want to lose her ... It was purely her decision."
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