Jesse Lee Soffer Exiting ‘Chicago P.D.’ After 10 Seasons
Jesse Lee Soffer is handing in his badge and gun as the Emmy-nominated actor will be leaving Chicago P.D. after the upcoming 10th season.
As first reported by Variety, Soffer is expected to depart the NBC police procedural drama sometime in the fall. Soffer has portrayed Detective Jay Halstead, an Intelligence Unit detective, since the Dick Wolf series debuted in 2014, appearing in all 187 episodes.
“I want to thank the incredible fans for their unwavering support during the past 10 years and want to express my deepest gratitude to Dick Wolf and everyone at Wolf Entertainment, Peter Jankowski, Matt Olmstead, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt, Rick Eid, Gwen Sigan, NBC, Universal Television, my fellow castmates and our incredible crew,” he said in a statement (via Variety).
He continued: “To create this hour drama week after week has been a labor of love by everyone who touches the show. I will always be proud of my time as Det. Jay Halstead.”
Soffer’s exit comes just days after it was revealed that Kelli Giddish would be departing fellow Wolf drama Law & Order: SVU. However, it was reported that Giddish, who played Detective Amanda Rollins in the long-running series, did not choose to leave the show and was instead pushed out by higher-ups.
A former child actor, Soffer made his big screen debut at the age of eight alongside John Goodman and Cathy Moriarty in the comedy Matinee. He went on to appear in TV series such as Two of a Kind and Guiding Light before leaving to focus on his studies. He returned to acting after graduating high school and, in 2004, took over the role of Will Munson on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, which earned him three Daytime Emmy nominations.
He made his debut as Jay Halstead in the Season 2 premiere of Chicago Fire, which led to the Chicago P.D. spin-off.
Chicago P.D., Season 10, Premiere, Wednesday, September 21, 10 pm et, NBC
Intelligence Has Your Back
Get absolutely everything about Chicago P.D. in your inbox!
Conversation9 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
O
I find "Jay" the most compelling character on the show. He is a true loss and I suspect that this will show up in the ratings fairly quickly.
8
-
R
Well, that's it then. Dick Wolf and NBC gave Jesse the Kelly Giddish treatment. Their statements are almost exactly the same,. This is a cost cutting measure, which explains why Benjamin Levy Aguilar was promoted to a series regular for Season 10. It's cheaper to pay him than Jesse, who's been an original series regular for nine seasons. It's a casualty of NBC considering nixing the 10:00 PM hour to cut costs. They need to either kill Jay off or give him his own unit to run offscreen. Anything else is out of character. I hope Tracy leaves too, to be quite honest. The cast's radio silence on this is very suspicious. This is a big blow to Chicago P.D. and the franchise as a whole. Jesse's been in the most episodes across the franchise. As of now, I've seen a lot of fans say they no longer care what happens to One Chicago or the 10:00 PM hour. It's a bigger blow than Kelli Giddish's is to SVU, but both Kelli and Jesse deserved better. So did the fans of Jay, Upstead, Amanda and Rollisii. I don't know what's going on over at Wolf Entertainment. It's like they're purging original regulars. Who's next, Nick Gehlfuss on Chicago Med? He's the lead over there. Maybe Kara Killmer on Chicago Fire? She's the female lead, and just had a baby earlier this year. It's also killed all excitement for the upcoming season of Chicago P.D. Almost nobody cares anymore.
10 4
-
O
I could careless if Jay is gone. I would have preferred if it was Hailey. Jay is and also been nosy into Voight business.
Maybe Kevin can get more air time. Too bad Jay that you are leaving. If it was only Hailey leaving. I hope they don't put Adam back with her. He belongs with Kim's Storyline. I like the new guy. Well I don't think he is new. I think I saw him play on their before as another character. I think I saw him on SVU as another character. He seems like a good fit. Mysterious.
-
R
I love Voight too, but let's not pretend Jay had no reason to stand up to him. Voight is not the kind of cop anyone should be trying to emulate, and he's said that himself. He even told Hailey he didn't want her to be him. Voight's actions consistently put Intelligence at risk of being disbanded, someone having to cover for him and ending up dead (Al) or someone lying to cover for another member and going to jail (Adam covering for Antonio) to protect the unit. In the season nine finale, Voight was literally trying to cover up another murder once he found out Anna killed Escano. And, it was made very clear she didn't kill him in self defense. She killed him in cold blood. I love everyone on this show. You may not like Jay, Hailey and Upstead. But, that's not the point. They're fan favorites. Jay is the most popular character from Chicago P.D. Every character has their detractors, but the fanbase is split on Voight. Half love him, and half hate him. It's not like that with Jay and Hailey. Most fans love Jay, and the only ones who hate Hailey are Linstead fans. It doesn't matter that YOU don't like them. What matters is how this will affect the ratings. And, it WILL. Significantly. Adam is too much of a hothead, which is why Kim had to telll him off when he completely defied Voight's orders to stand down in 9x15. He needs to get that under control. Kim can't decide whether she wants to be with Adam or not. Kevin struggles with being a black cop.
-
-
-
P
Has anyone else noticed that Wolf's shows tend to have a lot of backstage drama? The FBI franchise has lost cast members because of trouble behind-the-scenes, & both OneChicago & the L&O franchise has lost or is losing cast members as well. Btw, NBC's Dick Wolf shows were only renewed through this upcoming season (2022-2023). The fact that NBC worked so hard to acquire Magnum P.I. from CBS, gave it a 2-season renewal, & is now considering dropping the 10 pm hour altogether, leads me to believe that the 2023-2024 season could have a lot of shakeups. Something is clearly going on in Wolf World, & it's going to start turning viewers off.
5
-
R
It's more about Peacock. NBC's linear ratings keep dropping due to streaming, hence why they're considering cutting the 10:00 PM hour. They want to focus on Peacock, even though they just lost $467M on it last month and failed to add new subscribers in the second quarter. It's the worst performing streamer, but they don't want to take the loss. ABC and CBS both have streaming platforms that are pretty successful (especially Disney+), so NBC is committed to making Peacock work. It NEEDS to work. They can't afford for it not to, hence the Days of Our Lives move to Peacock to try and attract subscribers. Peacock is a monetary failure, and they are trying to save it. Bottom line: Jesse is second billed on Chicago P.D., has been a series regular for ten seasons, and is a former child star who's been acting for 32 years. He's too expensive to pay now. Kelli's been on SVU for 12 seasons, so she's also "too expensive" to pay. Dick Wolf's a little too confident his shows can survive losing fan favorites. He seems to have lost touch with what makes these shows a success. The writing's on the wall. One Chicago's renewal expires this year, and NBC will probably go through with cutting the 10:00 PM hour. I think he's hoping to save his shows though, so replacing Jesse and Kelli with cheaper actors is his solution. He should've let them finish out their current seasons, and gone out on top. SVU and One Chicago have had impressive runs already. I did notice the BTS drama.
-
-
O
I am very disappointed! I really liked Jesse and his part in the show. He is a very good actor!
4
-
C
I was wondering why is Jesse Lee Soffer having to leave my favorite tv show Chicago pd huh?
1
-
O
I love seeing Jay on the show. Every character is a great fit and they look like a real work family. But without Jay, it definitely will not be the same. Jay is a great asset and reality ,in my opinion , he makes the show. When I first heard the news about him leaving, my first response was that I would not be watching Chicago PD anymore. He's one of the best.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services