If you tuned into the Monday, March 21 episode of “General Hospital” wherein Molly (Haley Pullos), TJ (Tajh Bellow) and Jordan (Tanisha Harper) had dinner at the Metro Court with Shawn as he was preparing to leave for an extended business trip you might have forgotten that Shawn’s portrayer, Sean Blakemore, recently announced he would be leaving the daytime drama series less than a year since returning on contract.
“I appreciate you and ALL my wonderful supporters!” Blakemore told a fan last month on social media. “I was absolutely NOT let go. It was my decision to exit the show because of other obligations.”
The show nor Blakemore has commented on the matter since then, but on Blakemore’s last day, the official Twitter handle for the soap did share some behind the scenes pictures of the actor posing with co-stars Pullos and Bellow.
“The future’s looking bright for Shawn and his entire family,” read the caption for the post.
While Monday’s episode marked the final appearance by Blakemore in the role, at press time there were no known plans by the show to recast, meaning that Shawn’s quick business trip could become permanent which isn’t surprising since he left Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) in charge of his media empire in Port Charles.
Blakemore joined the cast of “General Hospital” in 2011, playing Shawn Butler on the soap until 2015. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2016 for his portrayal. He reprised the role for one episode in 2016 for a prison scene, appearing with Steve Burton’s Jason Morgan and Kelly Monaco’s Sam McCall. The character was doing time in Pentonville for shooting Hayden Barnes (Rebecca Budig), a crime he didn’t commit and was wrongfully convicted, albeit not many knew the truth at the time.