If you watched last night’s episode of Once Upon a Time, you were one of the many fans who said goodbye to beloved Neal Cassidy (a.k.a Baelfire), played by Michael Raymond-James, the son of villain Rumpelstiltskin. Since then, Raymond-James has made it clear he was not fired from the popular ABC show.

In a series of tweets, the actor announced he did not ask to leave the show and was not fired. He continued to say the decision was based on a “bold storytelling choice.”

E! News snagged an exclusive interview with the bosses of Once Upon a Time, Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis, and they explained it was hard for them to kill of Neal.

“We loved writing for Michael because he's such a talented actor, so it was a very hard decision for us because we really loved watching him act,” Kitsis said.

Horowitz added: “We've always said from day one, magic has a price, and you saw it. Rumple could not just come back and Neal gets out of it.”

According to TV Line, the plot decision was made early on. In fact they started setting up the plot twist during the show’s characters trip to Neverland.

As for Raymond James, he has nothing but love for the cast and crew: