Why did Ziva leave NCIS in real life? It wasn't about the money
Ziva David walked out of NCIS in 2013, and for years fans assumed the worst about why. The truth, when Cote de Pablo finally spelled it out, had nothing to do with a pay packet — CBS actually offered her a raise to stay. She said no. Here's the real reason.
It came down to the character, not the cash
De Pablo played Israeli Mossad-officer-turned-NCIS-agent Ziva David for eight years, from season 3 in 2005 until the start of season 11. When CBS announced her departure in July 2013, it cited "undisclosed reasons," and the silence let speculation run wild.
Three years later, at a 2016 Q&A promoting her film The 33, she finally explained. It was about the direction of the character and scripts she felt weren't good enough — she thought Ziva wasn't being treated with the respect she deserved after eight years of work.
"all the money in the world couldn't buy me" — Cote de Pablo, 2016
The plan she objected to was sending Ziva back to Israel and turning her into a miserable, defeated woman. She felt that betrayed the fans — especially the women — who'd followed the character, and told producers she wouldn't return until someone wrote something worthy of her.
So the raise didn't matter?
Not to her. CBS offered a pay rise when she signalled she was leaving, and she turned it down — the whole point of the "all the money in the world" line. In 2019 she added some nuance, telling USA Today she felt she hadn't really had a choice in leaving.
How her co-stars took it
Not entirely well. De Pablo made her decision just days before season 11 was due to start filming.
- Pauley Perrette — found out about 20 minutes before the press did, and insisted "no one wanted her to leave."
- David McCallum — told Digital Spy he felt frustration and anger that a leading lady would walk days before production.
- CBS — said it didn't want her to go, but that the choice was ultimately hers.
Did Ziva ever come back?
She did — eventually. The show implied Ziva died in an explosion in Israel in the season 13 finale, then revealed in 2019 that she'd been alive and in hiding. De Pablo made a surprise, unannounced return in the season 16 finale on 21 May 2019, and came back for four episodes of season 17 to give Ziva a proper send-off, reuniting with Tony and their daughter Tali.
For the record: she and Michael Weatherly are back as Tony and Ziva in a Paramount+ spin-off, NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which began streaming in September 2025. Turns out the right script was worth waiting for.