Criminal Minds star Paget Brewster issued an apology after receiving backlash for publicly slamming a show critic.
“Hi guys, I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it. Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job. I’m very sorry, Shealyn,” Brewster, 57, wrote via X on Sunday, June 21. “And I’m sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked.”
The actress initially shocked social media users when she took to X on Saturday, June 20, to call out an article Scott wrote for ScreenRant.
“Hello critic Shealynn Scott. You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs,” Brewster wrote in the since-deleted post. “Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck.”
Fellow journalists and Criminal Minds fans came to Scott’s defense, with many pointing out that the article praised the show despite Brewster alleging it was a bad review.(The opinion piece also made the argument that there should be more than 10 episodes a season for the hit Paramount+ series.)
Scott, for her part, clarified on her own social media that she received a private apology from Brewster following the TV star’s public message.
Brewster currently leads Criminal Minds in the role of Emily Prentiss, which she has played since 2006.
Earlier this year, Brewster recalled her brief exit from the show. (Emily was initially killed off in season 7 before it was revealed to be a fake-out. Brewster, however, was not on the show for two seasons, returning as a guest star for two more before officially being main cast again in season 12.)
During an April episode of the “Are You a Charlotte” podcast, Brewster claimed a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff show was filmed before former CBS president Les Moonves axed the idea. According to Brewster, she decided to leave the show after season 7 because she was “so mad” at CBS despite being offered to keep her full-time role.
“I really did hold on to that anger for too long,” she shared on the podcast. “It was an unhealthy thing to hold onto. Because A.J. and I were like, ‘We were early, we knew our lines, we never got into fights.’ We were really angry. I held onto the anger for too long, and after four years, I finally thought, ‘Why am I not [on the show]? I love everyone there. I just don’t like Les Moonves, and I never have to see him because he doesn’t care about this show.’”
Brewster ended up returning for season 12 after Thomas Gibson‘s exit. She claimed she had to fight to get her “episodic fee close to what the men were making” because she and the other women “were always paid less.”
“I was like, ‘Well, I kind of have them over a barrel. They need me more than I need this show.’ So, I got my episode fee way up from what it was,” she continued. “Then, when the other female cast members, their contracts were up, so I said, ‘This is what I got. Go get more.’ So then, they went in and they got big raises.”
Criminal Minds: Evolution airs Thursdays on Paramount+.
