Jeff Garlin says he empathizes with Wendi McLendon-Covey after she described working on The Goldbergs as the “PTSD of it all.” He tied his behavior on the show to undiagnosed bipolar disorder, while McLendon-Covey said she remembers events very differently.
Garlin said, “I actually empathize with her because, at the time, I was undiagnosed bipolar.” He also said, “I was miserable on the show, and I was miserable with my performance.” Those remarks add a fresh layer to a dispute that already stretched beyond his 2021 exit.
2021 exit from The Goldbergs
Garlin left The Goldbergs in 2021 after a series of human resources investigations into his behavior on set, and he later reached a mutual agreement with Sony Pictures Television to exit. He and McLendon-Covey played Murray Goldberg and Beverly Goldberg on the ABC sitcom, which ran for 10 seasons from 2013 to 2023.
The allegations around his conduct included an inappropriate text to a colleague suggesting they attend a table read in scant clothing, hugging and touching people in ways that made them uncomfortable, and repeated jokes about female body parts. Garlin denied sending the offending text message, and he later said his untreated bipolar disorder was not diagnosed until he was 59.
McLendon-Covey’s very different memory
McLendon-Covey told Bravo’s Andy Cohen that Garlin’s departure was “a long time coming” and said she was “exhausted” from the “PTSD of it all.” Garlin responded by saying, “I just got to the point where I had to quit, and she was very resentful,” adding, “When I left, she was very resentful and angry at me” and “I actually love her.”
McLendon-Covey answered in a comment with “Huh” and then, “Let’s just say I remember things very differently, as does the crew, the other actors, the writers, and our executives.” Drew Droege widened the public split in his own comment, saying, “Wendi is one of the best people I’ve ever known,” while adding, “He is one of the vilest people I’ve ever worked with.”
Best Seat in the House
The exchange comes as Garlin has been talking about his new book, Best Seat in the House: Moments No One Asked Me to Capture... But I Did Anyway, which he published on Sept. 15. The book includes a photograph of McLendon-Covey on the set of The Goldbergs, and Garlin called it “one of the most beautiful photographs I’ve ever taken.”
For readers tracking this feud, the practical takeaway is simple: Garlin is no longer trying to minimize the split, and McLendon-Covey is not accepting his version of events. The story now sits where workplace disputes usually end up when neither side yields — in competing memories, public comments, and a record that still points back to the set.
