Matlock star David Del Rio is no longer a part of the popular CBS series.
According to Deadline, Del Rio, originally a series regular, has left the series after investigating a sexual assault allegation. The allegation is of a Sept. 26 incident that happened between Del Rio and his Matlock co-star Leah Lewis.
The series’ producers and CBS Studios immediately investigated the altercation.
David Del Rio was escorted off the studio lot
This led to Del Rio being fired and escorted off of the studio lot on Oct. 2, the same day the incident was reported. Deadline sources claim that Eric Christian Olsen, who serves as Matlock’s executive producer, was among the team that escorted Del Rio off the property.
Del Rio’s departure is apparently no big loss for the series, since production on the series has continued, seemingly without a hitch, after Del Rio was let go. The writing team will also have a good amount of time to figure out how to write off Del Rio’s character thanks to an already-planned production hiatus coming next week. Production is set to resume after Thanksgiving.
Who did David Del Rio play on ‘Matlock’?
Del Rio’s character Billy Martinez is first-year associate at Jacobson Moore, the law firm where Madeline Matlock (Kathy Bates) has gone undercover to find out what happened to her daughter. Both Martinez and Bates work under lead attorney Olympia Lawrence (Skye P. Marshall), who was once married to the head of the firm’s son (Jason Ritter).
Lewis plays Sarah Franklin, a no-nonsense, by-the-book associate who, with Billy, helps Madeline solve the case of the week.