“I was suffering from hypertension, overwork; I wasn’t as young as I had been, and I was still working sixteen-hour days, and it was taking its toll on me. My blood pressure rose, because I was having problems with Gene’s business manager, who was interfering in what Rick and I considered to be our producer functions, and it just drove me crazy. It was the only time I ever had harsh words with Gene.
One day, I drove over to his house after Leonard Maizlish fell asleep in the middle of a casting session, right in full view of the actor who was reading for us. I was furious, and I stopped the casting session, jumped in my car, and rode over to Gene’s house and screamed at him. It wasn’t long after that I decided, I can’t let this happen. I knew the show was going to be successful, it was a terrific show, but I was lucky that i didn’t have to remain at work there.
As the saying goes, I had “fuck you” money. I gave away a lot of money by not coming back, but I also kept some hold of what little sanity remained to me, and physically, it was my salvation. I decided to be happier and have less.”
— Robert H. Justman on leaving Star Trek: The Next Generation