Leah Lewis has broken her silence on David Del Rio’s firing from Matlock amid allegations he sexually assaulted her.
“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands,” Lewis, 28, wrote via her Instagram Story on Thursday, October 9, alongside a photo of her hugging her mother. “Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength.”
The actress continued, “Key word, strength. Please, let that be the take away.”
Earlier that day, news broke that Del Rio, 38, was fired from the CBS series after Lewis accused her costar of sexual assault. Us Weekly confirmed that the network was alerted to an alleged incident and began an internal investigation immediately.
Deadline, who broke the news, reported that the alleged incident between Lewis and Del Rio took place on September 26. The alleged assault was reported to CBS on October 2. Following the investigation, Del Rio was “fired and escorted off the lot the same day the alleged assault was reported,” per the outlet.
Matlock has continued filming its second season amid Del Rio’s abrupt exit, per Deadline. His character will reportedly be written off down the line.The show will be going on hiatus starting next week through November after wrapping up the first half of the season. Production will begin again after Thanksgiving.
Us has reached out to CBS and Del Rio for comment.
Lewis stars as first-year associate Sarah Franklin on the legal drama led by Kathy Bates as the titular character. Del Rio played an additional first-year associate named Billy Martinez, who was best friends with Sarah. The pair worked at Jacobson Moore alongside Madeline “Matty” Matlock.
Lewis previously gushed about working with Del Rio prior to the scandal.
“David Del Rio, who plays Billy, who plays kind of, like, my counterpart, I’ve learned so much about comedy from him,” Lewis exclusively told Us in September 2024. “He comes from a theater background, so it’s like we’re always dancing and twinkling around set.”
Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger with viewers learning that Billy’s almost-fiancée (Bella Ortiz) is pregnant. Creator Jennie Snyder Urman previously teased to Us that fans will “get the answers that we’ve been promising.”
“It was both difficult and interesting to be in this bubble where we were shooting episode 17 when the first episode aired,” Urman exclusively told Us. “We were already down the road and now we are airing and so we are in conversation with the audience, and I try to be aware but not be beholden so that we are still telling the story.”
Burman added, “But I always think if there’s a problem — and they’re finding a problem — I can fix that more and more. I want the story to be as good as possible and as airtight as possible.”
With the season 2 premiere scheduled October 12, Del Rio’s departure likely won’t come on screen until after the scheduled break.
Matlock season 2 premieres on CBS Monday, October 12, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Episode 2 will air on Thursday, October 16, at 9 p.m. ET.
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