Ruth Wilson says she's 'not allowed' to discuss leaving The Affair; Showtime responds

Ruth Wilson has spoken out about her reasons for leaving The Affair… kind of.

On Thursday, the actress appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss her upcoming movie The Little Stranger (in which she costars with Domhnall Gleeson), and also her Affair character Alison Bailey’s shocking death on the Showtime drama.

“I did want to leave, but I’m not allowed to talk about why,” Wilson said in response to Gayle King’s questions about her departure from the show. She added that she’d “never complained to Showtime about pay parity.”

In an interview with the Radio Times back in February, Wilson said she believed she was paid less than her costar Dominic West. “Certainly when I signed up to that project, I would have got paid less,” she said. “Then [the producers] might argue, ‘Well, he’s already done a major American TV show [The Wire], so he’s already got a level.’ But even after a Golden Globe, I’m not going to be on parity. So he definitely gets more than me. I mean, I don’t know what the figure is, but I’m sure he does.”

Responding to Wilson’s comments Thursday, Showtime said in a statement, “We can’t speak for Ruth, but heading into season 4 everyone agreed the character’s story had run its course. Ultimately, it felt like the most powerful creative decision would be to end Alison’s arc at the moment when she had finally achieved self-empowerment. The impact of her loss will be felt as the series concludes next season. We thank the many fans who embraced the character of Alison and especially thank Ruth for her indelible work over the past four seasons.”

In the shocking Aug. 12 episode of The Affair, two story lines — both told from Alison’s perspective — revealed that her character had indeed died. The season 4 finale airs Sunday, with the rest of the characters, including both of Alison’s ex-husbands, Noah Solloway (West) and Cole Lockhart (Joshua Jackson), reeling in the wake of her death.

Representatives for Wilson did not immediately respond to EW’s request for further comment.