Rob Lowe reveals cheeky stunt in response to ‘The West Wing’ write-off
Rob Lowe gave himself a hilarious farewell when he was being written off from The West Wing.
Lowe, 61, addressed his 2003 exit from the show in a recent TikTok posted Thursday, which he filmed in a storage room.
“So a lot has been talked about my issues, such as they were, on The West Wing, which, I love that show and I love everybody in it,” the actor said looking into the camera.
“It’s all good now, but there were some difficulties,” continued Lowe, who once received one Emmy nomination for his time on the series. “At one point, they had sort of written me off the show. I didn’t feel like I had a lot to do.”
Lowe, who played Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn, then recalled a stunt he pulled as his character’s presence on the show began to diminish.
“And so I made these, and I sent them to everybody affiliated with the show. The network, the studio, producers, executives,” Lowe said, holding up a milk carton designed like a missing-person notice.
The faux ad featured a photo of his character and read: “Missing since the Christmas episode, 2002. Sam Seaborn. 170 pounds. Eyes blue. Please call Bernie Brillstein, my manager, if you’ve seen this man.”
“I sent these to everybody,” the Parks and Recreation alum added.
Lowe was initially The West Wing‘s lead when it premiered in 1999, becoming the highest salaried actor among the cast. But creator Aaron Sorkin gradually shifted the focus to an ensemble structure, leaving Lowe feeling sidelined. By Season 4, he decided to depart the series.
Lowe did return for several episodes of the show’s seventh and final season, which aired from 2005 to 2006, but later admitted in a 2023 episode of Penn Badgley’s podcast Podcrushed that he “did not have a good experience” despite trying to “make it work.”
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