The combination of the character having little to do on the show and budget cuts caused producers to eliminate her from the series after its fourth season.

The character disappeared without explanation, with the Winslows acknowledging only two children: Eddie (Darius McCrary) and Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams).

[3] Jo Marie Payton, who played matriarch Harriette Winslow, was particularly upset with Foxworth's dismissal, stating that producers had decided "nobody would notice" Judy was gone.

It was rumored that this was prompted in part by a judge's ruling that her trust fund of more than $500,000 be used to save her family from bankruptcy,[8] but she denied this in a 2009 interview, stating, "I think [that came] from the National Enquirer.

[10] In Fall 2009, the TV One series Life After chronicled Foxworth's story, dealing with her departure from Family Matters, and her subsequent use of marijuana, which she claimed to have stopped smoking.