Kirsten Storms General Hospital exit sends Maxie Jones to Australia
General Hospital wrote Maxie Jones out in Thursday’s episode after Kirsten Storms said she was not returning to work in Los Angeles.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
The Kirsten Storms General Hospital exit landed on screen Thursday, with the soap revealing that Maxie Jones is leaving Port Charles for Australia just months after the character came out of a coma, according to TMZ.
The story turn follows Storms’ own public comments last month that she was not returning to the daytime drama while dealing with a personal dispute involving her ex-husband, fellow actor Brandon Barash.
Storms, who has played Maxie Jones on the ABC soap, wrote on Instagram at the time that she did not feel comfortable going back to Los Angeles and returning to work. She called the situation “an eye opening experience about the downside of my profession.”
Why did Kirsten Storms leave General Hospital?
Storms has linked her work pause to a personal legal fight with Barash, according to her social media posts and TMZ’s reporting. The show’s Thursday episode handled the absence by sending Maxie Jones to Australia.
TMZ reported that Barash was granted a temporary restraining order against Storms in April after claiming she was having a “mental health crisis.” Storms, around that same period, alleged that her phone had been hacked and that someone was monitoring her devices.
Under the temporary restraining order, Barash was given custody of their daughter, Harper Rose, while Storms was granted supervised visitation, TMZ reported.
Storms addressed the legal fight again on social media Sunday, asking followers not to worry about her or assume “there is something larger going on” beyond two ex-spouses dealing with what she called a “disagreement” that she said would be resolved.
She also said she did not want to discuss the details publicly because the matter was personal and, in her words, offensive to who she is. Storms reminded commenters that she and Barash are divorced parents with a child.
What has Brandon Barash claimed?
According to People, Barash initially filed for a restraining order against Storms in December, claiming she was “experiencing delusions and hallucinations.” Those claims have not been adjudicated in the reporting cited.
Storms has disputed the broader concern around her situation in her public comments, framing the dispute as a family matter between former spouses. The available reporting does not include a newer public response from Barash to Storms’ latest social media remarks.
For General Hospital viewers, the immediate result is clear: Maxie Jones has been moved off canvas by a relocation story line. The timing puts one of the soap’s longtime characters out of town after Storms had already told fans she was stepping away from returning to work in Los Angeles.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.