Cote de Pablo Left ‘NCIS’ on Much Better Terms the Second Time Around

Cote de Pablo wasn’t an original cast member on NCIS. But when she joined the CBS crime procedural in season 3 as Israeli Mossad agent Ziva David, she quickly became a fan favorite. For eight seasons, they couldn’t get enough of her flirtatious banter with Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), her mentor/mentee relationship with Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), and the drama and danger surrounding her family. But in season 11, de Pablo suddenly left the series and started a long string of popular character exits. 

Why did Cote de Pablo leave ‘NCIS’ in season 11?

Back in 2013 — just two episodes into season 11 — de Pablo walked away from the role of Ziva for reasons that weren’t made clear at the time. And, her character was supposedly killed off-screen. It wasn’t until three years later during a public Q&A that she explained the reasons behind her decision to leave the popular series.

“Unfortunately, because of political things and scripts not being good enough, I chose not to [return to NCIS]. Look, I love this character. I worked for eight years crafting Ziva and when I felt like the character wasn’t being treated with the respect she deserved. They were going to send [Ziva] back to Israel to make her an unfortunate, miserable woman… and I didn’t think that was fair,” de Pablo explained.

With those comments, it didn’t seem likely that de Pablo would ever return to NCIS and reprise her beloved role. But in the final seconds of the season 16 finale, she suddenly appeared to the excitement of many fans.

She left on much better terms the second time around

Before her surprise return, de Pablo said that she would only consider returning to the franchise if Ziva’s storyline was handled better. She got what she asked for, as Ziva came back for four episodes in season 17 as a recurring character. After her guest appearance, she said that her previous comments about why she left NCIS in the first place were misunderstood.

“I think that was taken out of context at a certain point, and people started writing that to justify the idea of leaving,” de Pablo said, per Hello! “But I didn’t leave because I wanted to go or because I was ready or because I was tired. I didn’t really have an option.” 

Cote de Pablo is living a private life after ‘NCIS’

Her brief return as Ziva definitely had fans wanting more, but de Pablo hasn’t revisited the character since. Almost the entire OG cast is gone now, with the exception of David McCallum (Ducky). And the only remaining two cast members from the early days are Sean Murray’s Tim McGee and Brian Dietzen’s Jimmy Palmer.

After de Pablo’s exit from the series, Weatherly soon followed — as did Harmon. She doesn’t have any credits on IMDB since her NCIS Season 17 appearance, and there are no projects listed that she’s working on.

In the late 2010s, when she was interviewed for the Build Series YouTube channel about her brief return to NCIS, de Pablo said during the discussion that she’s “an incredibly private person.”

NCIS is now streaming on Paramount+.