Outer Banks star Madison Bailey was seemingly rocked by Rudy Pankow’s shocking departure from their hit Netflix series.
Appearing in a cast farewell video for Pankow, released by the streaming service via X on Tuesday, November 12, Bailey, 25, appeared overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry as she spoke directly to Pankow, 26.
“We all read the character on the page and we know what you brought to it,” Bailey told Pankow. “And you turned it out and really made something of it and paid respect to the depth of the character while bringing a lightheartedness that the show desperately needed.”
Pankow portrayed JJ up until the finale of season 4 of the show, which premiered on the streaming service Thursday, November 7. Bailey, for her part, stars as JJ’s fellow Pogue Kiara. The characters began as best friends on the teen adventure series before taking things to the next level in season 3 and have been a fan-favorite pairing since the pilot.
Bailey and Pankow, meanwhile, have endured feud rumors since June 2023 when eagle-eyed fans noticed they stopped posting together on social media. Despite the speculation, Bailey could be seen locking eyes with Pankow as she gave her heartfelt goodbye to him in Tuesday’s video.
Bailey wasn’t the only person to give a tribute to Pankow. Elsewhere in the video, she was seen quietly agreeing with her castmates’ praise for the actor, smiling and laughing as her peers reflected on his talent.
“You made him so deeply human and lovable,” Madelyn Cline told Pankow in the video. “You are such a … incredibly emotional and intuitive person.”
Pankow also became choked up while saying goodbye to his costars and fans, saying, “Thank you to this amazing cast and thank you fans for loving them. And thank you to JJ. I will always carry a piece of you for the rest of my life. Always remember: Stupid things have good outcomes all the time. JJ Maybank, you have changed my life forever. I love you forever. P4L, buddy.”
While speculation of tension between Pankow and Bailey began during season 3, season 4 fueled rumors further when a campfire scene involving Kiara lying on JJ’s chest was cut together so that their faces were never in the same frame. A separate episode showed what appeared to be a stunt double sitting in for Pankow in Morocco when JJ and Kiara were meant to be cuddling on the beach with the rest of the group.
“This is just insane, the fact that Rudy and Madison refused to record it together,” one fan wrote via X on Friday, November 8, about the duo. “And they weren’t even supposed to be doing anything huge in that scene, just hugging a bit.”
Other fans, however, defended the pair. “They might not be on great terms now but they were … best friends at one point, they hold so many memories together,” one fan wrote via Instagram.
Neither Bailey nor Pankow have recently addressed their friendship status. They have been photographed together at promotional events for the show alongside their fellow costars.
Pankow’s last appearance on Outer Banks came during the season 4 finale when JJ was stabbed and ultimately killed by his biological father. While the surprise death had some viewers speculating about the reasons for Pankow’s exit, cocreators Jonah Pate, Joshua Pate and Shannon Burke claimed they had been planning to kill a main character off the show since the very beginning.
“We were pretty sure early on that this was where it was going. We thought that one of the Pogues would die almost in the very beginning in season 1, and we were pretty sure it was going to be JJ,” Burke told Cosmopolitan in an interview published earlier this month. “We just weren’t sure when we were going to play that card. We knew this would be JJ’s season — this is JJ’s story. And we realized pretty early on, like, ‘OK, we’re going to play this card now.’”
