Kirsten Storms’ “General Hospital” character has officially been exited from the 21-year-old soap opera following her recent “mental health crisis.”
Fans of the long-running drama were shocked to learn that Storms’ character Maxie Jones will be moving to Australia just months after waking up from a coma in Thursday’s episode.
A company representative did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Storms, 42, has played Maxie Jones on the soap opera since 2005. She previously took a six-month hiatus from the show from July 2025 to February 2026. Meanwhile, she told her followers that she was scheduled to undergo brain surgery.
She only appeared in a handful of episodes in the months leading up to her recent exit.
Despite recently returning to the show, Storms announced last month that she would be taking another break from the show, citing legal issues with ex-husband Brandon Barash.
“Given what’s going on, I can’t say I’ll feel comfortable moving back to Los Angeles and getting back to work. This has been an eye-opening experience about the downside of my profession,” she wrote via Instagram at the time.
The move comes amidst the actress’ ongoing family issues. In April, Barash was granted an emergency restraining order against Storms after telling a judge that she was suffering from a “mental health crisis.”
Among several other claims, Ms. Barash, who met the “General Hospital” star on the soap’s set before they married in 2013, claimed that Ms. Storms had been experiencing a series of financial difficulties since their 2016 divorce and was concerned about the health and safety of her 12-year-old daughter Harper.
At one point, Storms even claimed that her landlord sued her for eviction because the ex-lovers moved to Tennessee separately and her celebrity mother did not have green card status from September 2024 to June 2025.
Barash claimed that “housing instability was a recurring theme” for Storms, who frequently stayed in hotels, sometimes changing rooms repeatedly out of fear that people would “follow her and her children to their rooms.”
In addition to housing issues, her car was also at risk of being repossessed around the same time, so Barash allegedly loaned her $5,000 to help her cope.
In May 2025, Storms “experienced delusions and hallucinations” and told Barash that she “didn’t think she should have a child during her parenting time,” Barash said.
She was eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital and later released. At that point, she allegedly began abusing Adderall and other drugs, one of Storm’s friends alleged Barash.
At the time, Barash asked the court to compel Storms to undergo a mental health evaluation.
The “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century” actress provided an update on the legal situation in response to Barash’s legal claims in a July 19 statement shared on Instagram.
“I simply acknowledge that there is an ongoing situation with Brandon that will be resolved (hopefully soon),” she wrote. “I would appreciate (and encourage) people here not to worry about me or think that there is something bigger going on than two ex-spouses having a ‘difference of opinion’ that will be resolved someday.”
Storms continued: “Please remember that we are both divorced and have children. We appreciate all the supportive comments, but our daughter is now at an age where she Googles her name on the bus to school, so we ask that you stop speculating about this issue.”
