Matlock Scandal Explained After David Del Rio’s Exit Over Sexual Assault

Season 2 of Matlock was off to a strong start before an investigation into David Del Rio‘s alleged sexual assault of costar Leah Lewis led to an offscreen firing.

CBS introduced a gender-swapped — and very plot different — version of the original Matlock series with Kathy Bates at the helm. Matlock followed a fictional lawyer hoping to get hired at a prestigious law firm — and she just happened to share the same last name as the iconic Matlock series from the ’80s. The season premiere, however, revealed that Matty’s (Bates) was all an act.

Matty turned out to actually be the wealthy Madeline Kingston, who has gone undercover at the firm to track down who is responsible for her daughter’s death. The suspects on Matty’s list included Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), Julian (Jason Ritter) or Senior (Beau Bridges) — all of whom could have had access to documents that would have taken opioids off the streets before her daughter died from an overdose.

The plan to take down Jacobson Moore didn’t exactly go as planned once Matty found herself growing closer to Olympia, Billy (Del Rio), Sarah (Lewis) and more of her coworkers that don’t seem to be aware of the corruption at the firm.

Related: Where Was David Del Rio‘s ‘Matlock‘ Story Line Going Before Firing?

Matlock teased a surprise paternity story line for Billy in season 2 before David Del Rio was fired for allegedly sexually assaulting his costar Leah Lewis. The hit CBS series, which premiered in September 2024, follows a wealthy retired lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) who pretends to be a poor widower named Matty Matlock […]

Before season 2 returned in October, the cast teased upcoming story lines for each of their characters. Days before the premiere, news broke that Del Rio was fired following an investigation after Lewis accused him of sexual assault.

CBS took action after Lewis reported an incident by removing Del Rio from set and making plans to write Billy off the show. The stars of Matlock haven’t spoken out publicly on the scandal so far but many have subtly showed their support for Lewis, who released a statement.

Keep scrolling for an explainer of the scandal — including what comes next for Del Rio and the show:

The Key Players

Matlock introduced Us to Olympia’s first year associates in the season 1 premiere, with Sarah and Billy sharing the workload before Matty came into the picture. Sarah and Billy weathered some ups and downs in their friendship throughout the first season but ended on good terms in the finale.

“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 Weekly in September 2024. “He comes from a theater background, so it’s like we’re always dancing and twinkling around set.”

Lewis said Del Rio had “one of the largest personalities and skill sets that I’ve ever been able to work with. So, it’s been playtime.”

The Gist

After Matlock was quickly renewed for a second season, the cast reunited to start filming new episodes for the fall 2025-2026 TV season. They were halfway through production when news broke about Del Rio’s firing.

Deadline reported in October that an alleged incident involving Del Rio and Lewis took place one month prior. It was reported by the actress to CBS in early October and Del Rio was “fired and escorted off the lot the same day the alleged assault was reported.”

What Has Been Said

Del Rio has yet to address the scandal while his wife, Katherine Del Rio, posted Instagram Stories calling Lewis a “disturbing human being” before deleting them hours later.

After the alleged incident, the Matlock cast showed their support by unfollowing Del Rio on Instagram. Lewis, for her part, broke her silence by sharing a photo with her mother from set.

“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands,” she wrote via Instagram in October. “Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please, let that be the take away.”

What’s Next

Matlock was on hiatus from filming when news broke but production is set to resume on the second half of season 2 after Thanksgiving in November. Del Rio’s Billy is expected to be immediately written off after getting a larger arc in the first part of the season with an ongoing paternity surprise.