Hollywood is reeling from an explosive on-set scandal that saw Matlock star David Del Rio suddenly booted from the CBS legal drama. The juicy details that have surfaced so far point to a shocking and swift end to the actor’s run on the Kathy Bates-led show.
Here’s the breakdown of everything we know about the messy exit of Billy Martinez…and how his wife Katherine Del Rio’s disgusting victim shaming posts made everything 100 times worse.
The Allegation That Rocked the Set
The lightning-fast firing of Del Rio, who played ambitious young lawyer Billy Martinez, stems from a serious allegation of sexual assault involving his co-star, Leah Lewis, who plays Sarah Franklin on the show.
The Incident: Reports indicate the alleged incident took place in late September. Some outlets have claimed it occurred in Lewis’s trailer on the Paramount lot.
The Report: The allegation was formally reported to CBS Studios on October 2.
The Swift Ax: The studio wasted no time. Following an immediate internal investigation, Del Rio was fired and escorted off the set the very same day the report was made! This decisive action speaks volumes about how seriously CBS Studios took the claim. It’s also been reported that Matlock executive producer Eric Christian Olsen was among the group that led the actor off the lot.
The Aftermath: Del Rio’s character is now being written out of the show for future episodes. Production has resumed, but with an awkward hole to fill.
The Victim Speaks… With Strength
Hours after the news broke, Leah Lewis, who worked closely with Del Rio on the series, broke her silence with a heartfelt, yet brief, post on her Instagram Stories.
Sharing a photo of herself with her mother, Lewis wrote that she was “moving forward in love and strength” and was “in good hands,” thanking people for their support. The post’s key word, she insisted, was strength
Wife Katherine Del Rio’s (now deleted) Disgusting Victim Blaming Response
If the firing wasn’t dramatic enough, the situation exploded into an all-out social media spectacle thanks to Del Rio’s wife, actress and producer Katherine Del Rio.
Katherine took to her own Instagram Stories and posted a couple of shocking, now-deleted messages targeting Leah Lewis.
The Insult: In her first post, Katherine shared a zoomed-in photo of Lewis (some say the zooming in of her eyes had racial context to it) and captioned it with a brutal slam, allegedly writing: “This is the most disturbing human being I have ever met.”
The Mockery: Katherine then shared a second post mirroring Lewis’s statement, complete with a photo of herself with her own mother. Her caption threw the blame squarely at the victim, saying they were “moving forward in love and strength after what Leah did to our family.”
More Insults: Katherine then posted yet another IG story using an image of popular influencer Khaby Lame, this time putting some fault on David’s “cheating,” while tearing into the victims looks.
The posts ignited a swift online backlash, with many criticizing Katherine for publicly attacking her husband’s alleged victim. We fully understand her husband most likely told her a different story of what happened, but she could have just, you know, not said anything, rather than attacking the victim.
Del Rio Remains Silent
As of now, David Del Rio has made no public comment regarding the sexual assault allegation, his firing from Matlock, or his wife’s controversial social media posts.
CBS Studios has officially confirmed Del Rio’s departure from Matlock but has declined to comment further on the specifics of the investigation. The legal drama continues, both on and off the screen, as the show’s writers scramble to rework Billy Martinez’s exit from the series.
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