May 24. MediaTakeOut.com has learned that actress Jill Marie Jones, who plays Toni on the hit show Girlfriends, has decided to leave the show. And it appears that her co-stars may have pushed her into leaving.
Earlier this year, the cast was reportedly told that show's budget needed to be cut in order for it to be picked up by the newly formed CW Network. Outraged by the prospect of salary cuts, the four actresses, Tracee Ellis Ross (Joan), Golden Brooks (Maya), Persia White (Lynn) and Jill Marie Jones all agreed to work together and negotiate their contracts as a group.
A show insider tells MediaTakeOut.com, however, that once the network put pressure on the ladies their coalition fell apart and Jill Marie Jones was left out on a limb. According to the insider, "Jill thought that they were sticking together so she rejected the network's lowball offer. Little did she know the others went behind her back and accepted their offers."
When Jones confronted her co-stars about their failure to stand together, they were less than sympathetic. Our source tells us that Tracee Ellis Ross told Jones "I'm sorry but I have to keep my job."
Jones may have thought that this form of negotiation would have worked since it worked so well for other sitcom stars. In 1997, the cast of Seinfeld negotiated the sum of $600K per castmember per episode - an unprecedented amount at the time. Also in 2002, the cast of Friends stood together and negotiated a salary of $1M per castmember for each of the season's 24 episodes.
Source
I must say, Toni's storyline for the past 2 seasons had gotten a bit whack-ish. I mean don't get me wrong, it's troubling. Like what would 'Sex and the City' have been like without Samantha? You just can't kick off a main character like that. I hope this season can still do well without her...
