Chelsea Peretti played Gina Linetti on Brooklyn Nine-Nine for several seasons before she was abruptly written out of the show, leaving fans wondering, "Why did Gina leave Brooklyn 99?" Gina served as the 99th Precinct's civilian and was known for weird antics, sarcastic remarks, and disinterest in work. The announcement of Peretti's departure was a shock, especially since it followed a tumultuous 2018 when Fox canceled Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Though NBC picked up the show, news of Peretti leaving soon followed.

Peretti was a Brooklyn Nine-Nine regular until season 6, which was her farewell outing. However, Gina Linetti returned to Brooklyn Ninine-Nine as a guest star in the season 6 finale and made a handful of further appearances before the ending of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Narrative-wise, Gina decides it's time to leave the 99th Precinct, realizing her talents would be better used elsewhere. While the rest of the gang is sad to see her go, they her choice and send her off happily. Yet the question of why Gina left Brooklyn Nine-Nine from a behind-the-scenes perspective remained a mystery.

The Reason Chelsea Peretti’s Gina Left The Nine-Nine

It Wasn't Peretti's Decision To Leave The Show

According to Chelsea Peretti, leaving Brooklyn Nine-Nine wasn't entirely her decision. She refused to get into specifics of what transpired behind the scenes regarding her exit, so it's unclear whether the show was already looking to write her out or she was already looking to exit. For some reason, it felt like the perfect time to push through with it, so they did. Peretti also emphasized that she's close friends with Brooklyn Nine-Nine creator Dan Goor and co-star and producer Andy Samberg, adding that the split was somewhat mutual and amicable.

Since Peretti was the only non-cop character, she was the one to go.

Between the timing and Peretti deliberately declining to reveal the real reason behind her Brooklyn Nine-Nine exit, it's possible that it was a network decision. As she noted in her extensive interview for her farewell episode, she's just a "lowly actor ... without much status." Given the show's standing at that point, NBC may have wanted to cut costs to be able to move forward with it. This forced the sitcom to downsize its ensemble cast, and since Peretti was the only non-cop character, she was the one to go.

Will Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ever Come Back?

Terry Crews Would Love A Reunion

With or without Gina, Brooklyn Nine-Nine's ending after season 8 was a sad blow to many viewers, although it was also a logical move for NBC and the cast, given the increased scrutiny and reduced for the police over the past few years, which resulted in police brutality cases around the country. The final Brooklyn Nine-Nine season attempted to address this issue and also provided a touching and complete-feeling sendoff for all of its main characters.

There are some who want to see the show return in the future, however, and Terry Crews is one of them. According to Crews, much of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's cast would be open to participating in anything from a full reboot to a Brooklyn Nine-Nine movie to an annual Halloween Heist episode moving forward (via CinemaBlend). It's unknown at this time whether any of these hopes are likely to pan out, but knowing that Crews and others would be interested in a reunion of some kind means it's not off the table.

Since the ing of Andrew Braugher, however, the cast has been much more hesitant to approach the idea of the reunion. As much as the rest of the cast enjoy working together, it seems unlikely that they would want to do it without their Captain Holt. Melissa Fumero said as much when Screen Rant interviewed her ahead of the premiere of True Story season 2. She explained:

Oh gosh. We've definitely all played with the idea, and we definitely all miss each other so much, and miss spending our days together. I don't think we could ever do it, though, without Andre, so I don't know that that would happen, but, yeah. I hope to work in other things with everyone. Stephanie and I have a podcast together now, and I think we'll just always be looking for ways to work together again.

What Chelsea Peretti Has Done Since Brooklyn 99

Peretti Made Her Directorial Debut In 2024

Chelsea Peretti may have left Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but the comedian/actress has gotten along fine since then. Peretti mostly lends her talents to voice-over work. She's worked on popular programs such as American Dad, The Simpsons, and Bob's Burgers. After leaving Brooklyn Nine-Nine, she appeared in the movie Game Night, starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, playing the character Glenda. In 2021, Peretti ed the cast of Sing 2 as Suki Lane, a talent scout dog working at Crystal Entertainment.

She's married to Get Out director and comedian Jordan Peele

Peretti also made her directorial feature film debut with First Time Female Director, which came out in 2024. Other than that, the actress tends to keep a low profile. In her personal life, she's married to Get Out director and comedian Jordan Peele, and the two share a child. Outside of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, many probably recognize Peretti from her run on the sketch comedy show Kroll Show, of which she often played Bobby Bottleservice's girlfriend.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Scene Chelsea Peretti Found Hardest To Film

It Came In The Season 2 Episode, "Beach House"

Gina was one of the most popular characters on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and despite Chelsea Peretti's early exit, her interviews on behind-the-scenes experiences tend to be positive and incredibly insightful for fans of the show. However, there's one Brooklyn Nine-Nine scene that Peretti found particularly hard to film in the show's early seasons. Peretti struggled to film many scenes alongside Andre Braugher, who plays the borderline-emotionless Captain Holt.

However, this wasn't because of animosity between the two, but because the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast — Chelsea Perreti included — found Captain Holt as funny as the viewers. In a 2015 Screen Actors Guild Q&A with the Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast, Peretti revealed that keeping a straight face while filming a scene in the season 2 episode "Beach House" was one of the hardest challenges of her career so far:

"the hardest I've ever laughed was when Andre in this 'Beach House' episode was supposed to be boring. ... I couldn't do it, and I feel like a lot of people had that experience."

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Remained Consistently Good After Gina Left

The Rest Of The Cast Kept The Quality High

In an ensemble sitcom like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, losing one cast member could have hurt the whole show. Especially in the wake of the show moving networks, Gina being written out of the show could have seemed like a sign of things ending. Something similar happened with actors leaving Community in the later seasons, and the show never recaptured the magic of the full ensemble again. Fortunately, that was not the case for Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Though Gina was a memorable character in the series, the sitcom maintained its quality level following her exit. It has less to do with Chelsea Peretti not being missed and more to do with the talent of the rest of the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The show had created such lovable and hilarious characters that they could all hold things together with Gina gone, never making it feel like there was a missing link. It meant the writers and showrunners could spend more time with the other characters.

The show continued for two more seasons, delivering the same quality humor and storytelling despite losing a key member. Gina was part of what made the show great initially, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine had grown to a place where taking away one of those elements would not bring down the whole show.

Chelsea Peretti Returned A Few Times After Leaving

Season 6 Was Not The End For Gina

Just because Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrote out Gina in season 6 doesn't mean her time on the show was finished. Chelsea Peretti returned for two more episodes in the series' final season. She appeared in "The Last Day Pt. 1" and "The Last Day Pt. 2." These episodes served as the farewell for the cast, characters, and viewers and celebrated what came before. That meant it was a perfect chance for Gina to return, which happened during one of the show's famed "heists."

Gina won the Halloween Heist in season 4.

Jake organizes a last "heist" before Holt and Amy leave the precinct, and it involves leading teams to get clues from past locations and people they used to be involved with. It was a perfect story device for a goodbye and a look back. When the team finds one of the clues, they go to find the tube with the next clue, but it isn't there. Instead, Gina shows up with the tube, and she gets on an armored truck and leaves with it. When the teams try to get the tube from her, it causes a huge mess.

Moving to the finale, a series of betrayals make this one of the best heists ever, and Gina isn't finished. Both Rosa and Gina show up with tubes, and it all comes down to Hitchcock, who shockingly wins it all. Jake ends up leaving the precinct at the end, but there is one last scene. One year later, Jake, Gina, and more show up and ensure the Halloween Heist tradition never ends, despite them all leaving Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The Best Storylines Involving Chelsea Peretti's Gina

Gina’s Best Storylines Highlight Her Humor And Friendships

Because of the nature of Gina’s character - someone who is not involved in criminal cases and someone who often scoffs at the competitions in the office - she is not often part of the main storylines in the series. Even though the entire ensemble is hilarious, when Gina is involved in a story, she is often the comic relief. That being said, her arcs providing comedic relief can often dovetail into more serious subjects, just like her showing up for the final heist as a way to say goodbye.

For example, one of the best uses of Gina for humor in the show is the running gag of her recording her pranks on the squad and posting them to social media.

In the episode “The Last Ride,” she livestreams her pranks for her Australian audience online. Her pranks include things like bringing Amy a coffee that is actually a cup full of cement. During her streaming, she also gets Captain Holt’s speech on video about how important it is to keep the city safe. Holt makes the speech when the precinct is in danger of closing due to budget cuts, but her audience is so moved, they help the precinct to stay open.

Another great Gina storyline involves her friendship with Jake. It’s made clear throughout her time on the show that Gina and Jake grew up together. Much of what Jake knows about women is through the lens of how Gina lives, like believing all women carry a hairdryer in their purse. Their friendship is also utilized in another great storyline for Gina.

When Jake faces the possibility of moving out of his apartment, Gina comes through for him. The owner of the property is no longer going to be in charge of the building. Instead, it is becoming a co-op, with all of the residents owning their apartments and playing a part in the upkeep of the building. Jake cannot afford to purchase his apartment - the same apartment he and Gina have fond memories of when they were kids. Gina buys the apartment and offers to become Jake’s landlord so he can simply continue paying his rent to his friend.

Chelsea Peretti’s time as Gina might not have been as long as the rest of the main cast in their respective roles on the show, but she certainly made Brooklyn Nine-Nine even more fun.