Calista Flockhart left Supergirl at the end of season 1 because of the series' budgetary changes resulting from moving its production from Los Angeles to Vancouver. As Cat Grant, Flockhart was a series regular on Supergirl during its first season, when it aired on its original network, CBS. The self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media", Cat was the CEO and Founder of CatCo Worldwide Media and the boss of Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist), who was secretly Supergirl.
In Supergirl season 1, Cat and Kara's working relationship was a spin on Meryl Streep as Anne Hathaway's boss in The Devil Wears Prada. Kara was still wet-behind-the-ears and had a lot to learn, both as Cat's assistant as Supergirl, which was a secret she kept from Ms. Grant. While Cat impatiently tolerated Kara's naivete, she also took Danvers under her wing and taught her valuable life lessons. Meanwhile, Cat and CatCo championed Supergirl as National City's protector; as a Metropolis transplant, Grant believed in the heroism of Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) and saw the same spark in his cousin. By the end of Supergirl season 1, Cat promoted Kara and supported her desire to become a reporter (and Cat even pronounced "Kara" properly for the first time - her way of showing that Kara had earned respect).
Related: Supergirl: Why Jeremy Jordan's Winn Left After Season 3
However, massive changes came to Supergirl at the end of season 1 because the series switched networks and moved to The CW for season 2 onward. Supergirl was a high-profile and expensive series for CBS to produce but it didn't garner the ratings required. In addition, fans clamored for Supergirl to officially join The CW's Arrowverse, especially after The Flash (Grant Gustin) guest-starred in a well-received Arrowverse crossover episode. But while Supergirl taking its place in the Arrowverse was right for the fans and the show, it also meant that the production's budget would be smaller on The CW. This directly affected Calista Flockhart's participation on Supergirl as a series regular and made her a casualty of the move to The CW.
Flockhart opted not to join her fellow actors and move to Vancouver, where Supergirl and the other Arrowverse series are produced 10 months out of the year. Flockhart prefers to live and work in Los Angeles and she also splits her time in the other homes owned by her and her husband, Harrison Ford. In addition, the actress raises a son with Ford. Moving to Vancouver would take her away from her family for most the year and that was a non-starter for Flockhart. Therefore, she initially reduced her role from a series regular and only appeared in four episodes of Supergirl season 2.
Supergirl wrote Cat out at the start of season 2 by having Ms. Grant decide to leave CatCo and seek new professional and personal challenges. She turned over the day-to-day operations of CatCo to James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) and left National City. Ms. Grant headed to Washington, where she became the White House Press Secretary to President Olivia Marsdin (Lynda Carter). Cat's last appearance was in Supergirl's season 2 finale, "Nevertheless, She Persisted" and Cat finally admitted that she knows Kara is Supergirl. While the series has never stopped evolving, longtime fans still miss Supergirl's original paradigm where Ms. Grant ran CatCo and was Kara's mentor.
Even after Flockhart's departure, Cat Grant remains an essential part of Supergirl canon. Ms. Grant is regularly referenced on the show and she is sometimes even seen on a television screen or by other means. And although it hasn't happened yet, Calista Flockhart is always welcome to return to Supergirl. Speaking to TVLine in 2019, Supergirl executive producer Jessica Queller confirmed that “Calista [Flockhart] has always remained open to coming back to the show periodically, based on her schedule … It could happen."
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