David Del Rio is out at Matlock following a sexual assault allegation, multiple outlets have confirmed.
In a report from Variety published on Thursday, October 9, Del Rio was removed from the set of CBS’ Matlock reboot — which is currently filming its second season — following an alleged incident involving another actor on the show last week. According to Deadline, the actor in question was Leah Lewis, who plays a lesbian lawyer named Sarah.
On Matlock, Del Rio played a first-year associate named Billy, working alongside Sarah, both of whom work under Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) at the Jacobson Moore firm. Deadline reported that a report of the alleged incident prompted immediate action from the show’s producers and CBS Studios. Among those who escorted Del Rio off set was the show’s executive producer Eric Christian Olsen.
Filming reportedly continued following Del Rio’s exit. As half of the show’s upcoming season is near completion, the show was scheduled to go into a pre-planned hiatus next week, with production set to resume after Thanksgiving. Del Rio will not appear in future episodes of the series, and scripts will reportedly be rewritten amid his exit.
CBS’ iteration of Matlock premiered last fall. This new chapter tells the story of a lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates), who poses as a lawyer named Matty Matlock in order to get a job at Jacobson Moore and seek revenge on behalf of her late daughter — who died of an opioid overdose. She chose the Matlock alias as her daughter was a fan of the show, and she believes Jacobson Moore hid documents that would’ve taken opioids off the market years earlier and potentially saved her daughter’s life.
Season 2 of Matlock is scheduled to premiere on CBS on Sunday, October 12.