Ellen Barkin Hints at Displeasure With Animal Kingdom Exit: 'Likes' Slew of Angry Fan Tweets, Cracks That She 'Left Her Boys a Hit TV Show'

Michael Ausiello

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Animal Kingdom‘s Ellen Barkin is not going quietly into the night.

The star of TNT’s hyper-violent drama, whose alter ego, Smurf, was killed off in this week’s penultimate Season 4 episode, has taken to social media to seemingly express frustration with how her departure was handled. Late last night, the actress “liked” a series of tweets from fans incensed about her exit.

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Several of those tweets took direct aim at EP John Wells for comments he made to TVLine in which he explained why he wrote Barkin off the show. Two of the tweets even called for the series’ cancellation. (Animal Kingdom‘s Season 4 finale airs next Tuesday; TNT has already renewed the show for Season 5.)

Barkin concluded her Twitter “liking” spree with this snark-filled comment to fans: “Next episode Smurf’s will is opened — she left her boys a hit TV show.”

TVLine has reached out Barkin’s reps for a comment. TNT and Warner Bros. TV declined comment.

In that aforementioned TVLine interview, Wells maintained that the decision to bid farewell to Barkin was creatively motivated. “You know, we always do everything based on story,” he said. “And since we were talking about what to do and where we’d gotten with the Smurf story, it seemed like good storytelling. And you know, this is Animal Kingdom. We don’t expect anybody to be alive by the time we get to the end!”

Discussing Barkin’s reaction to her exit, Wells told TVInsider, “We had lots of conversations about it in advance. I have great respect for Ellen and I think she was surprised that that the show was continuing as long as it did. We presented it and talked about it as a really strong story. I can’t speak for Ellen, but as an actor, she’s used to doing movies where she does something for like three months and then off you go. So, I think, again, I can’t speak for her, but I think she was surprised she stayed alive as long as she did!”

Scroll down to check out Barkin’s Twitter activity…

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