Matlock's Leah Lewis Opens Up After Costar David Del Rio Was Fired Amid Sexual Assault Allegations: 'I'm In Good Hands'

With the Season 2 premiere of Matlock just days away in the 2025 TV schedule, the buzz around the show is unfortunately centered on former cast member David Del Rio being fired due to sexual assault allegations involving costar Leah Lewis, another series regular. Just hours after news broke that Del Rio had been fired, Lewis spoke up with a reaction that indicates that she's getting the support she needs.

The series of events with Del Rio's firing was set in motion after an alleged incident on September 26 involving Leah Lewis, with CBS Studios pursuing an internal investigation. The allegations were reportedly made on October 2, with Del Rio escorted off set on the same day, with executive producer (and former NCIS: LA star) Eric Christian Olsen in attendance.

Filming continued after Del Rio was escorted off set, but no details were initially available about how the situation was affecting Leah Lewis. The actress herself took to Instagram with an update, revealing that she had her mother on hand and more:

Lewis has apparently seen at least some of the outpouring of support she's received in the wake of the news about the alleged sexual assault. It's not clear if she was among the cast members who were filming when David Del Rio was removed from set, but it seems that very swift action was taken rather than a drawn-out investigation. Take a look at what she posted on Instagram:

Matlock has nearly completed filming on the first half of Season 2, with a hiatus already scheduled to begin next week before production would pick up again following the Thanksgiving holiday. It remains to be seen how the hit drama will handle Billy's storyline in the episodes that David Del Rio did film for Season 2. The Season 1 finale ended on a pregnancy cliffhanger for his character. (You can find the full first season streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription.)

The potentially good news is that Sarah and Billy's stories were increasingly diverging towards the end of the first season, so hopefully there will be no complications in continuing Sarah's story once Billy is written out. It's possible that the pre-planned hiatus will help shift any courses that might be needed.

Matlock returns in CBS' fall lineup for Season 2 on Sunday, October 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET, before moving back to its regular 9 p.m. ET time slot on Thursday nights, all on CBS. The premiere episode is called "The Before Times," with Matty (Kathy Bates) questioning the paternity of the man who claim's to be Alfie's (Aaron Harris) father, Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) trying to protect Julian's role in the Wellbrexa scandal, and the team tackling an arson case.

It remains to be seen how many episodes will pass before David Del Rio's Billy is cut from the story or how much of the spotlight Leah Lewis' Sarah will get.