Kelly Monaco got a round of applause from her General Hospital family as she gave a farewell speech on the set of the ABC soap.
“I’ve been on this lot for 25 years, and you have all been my family — not only my second family but my first family,” a tearful Monaco said, as seen in a video circulating on social media. “And I just thank each and every one of you for all these memories and this experience that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”
Monaco also thanked General Hospital casting director Mark Teschner for “start[ing] this whole journey,” calling her time on the soap a “wild ride.” And she told her colleagues that they haven’t seen the last of her.
I came across this beautiful video of Kelly’s last words after her final scene on #gh . 21 yrs of dedication and loyalty playing Sam McCall ….. shared with the cast and crew. What an emotional journey! #kellymonaco pic.twitter.com/fpAkjQCK1P
— pam (@pjporten) November 15, 2024
The news of Monaco’s exit broke in August, and the actor was reportedly “blindsided” to have been let go from General Hospital after 21 years of playing Sam McCall. Fans immediately petitioned producers to backtrack on the decision, even sending a billboard truck with a #IStandWithKelly message to the studios.
Monaco filmed her final General Hospital scenes on September 27, and in a now-deleted Instagram comment, she said that Sam’s storyline “stopped” when costar Billy Miller was fired and that Sam was stripped of “every characteristic she had” and was dismantled into a character Monaco didn’t recognize.
“Call it what you will… retaliation at its finest,” she added.
Christopher Willard / Disney
Sam died of a mysterious illness during General Hospital’s October 30 episode, with surgeon and half-brother Dr. Lucas Jones (Van Hansis) calling time of death. After Sam’s shocking demise, fans lambasted executive producer Frank Valentini on social media.
“His hate for her is real!” one X user said of Valentini. “This guy is so unprofessional.”
Another wrote, “Kelly Monaco and Sam fans deserved so much better. Disgusting behavior by Frank and anyone else who made this decision.”
Fans also noticed that Valentini wasn’t clapping when the camera panned to him in the video of Monaco’s farewell speech.
“Kelly is an amazing, classy actress [and] was until her final (for now) day at GH,” one X user wrote. “Her words were beautiful, no self-pity there. I did notice everyone clapping except for one person, that is so telling. #FireFrank.”
