David Del Rio has been fired from CBS series Matlock after being accused of sexual assault, reportedly towards co-star Leah Lewis. David has appeared in the series since season one and was halfway through filming season two when the incident occurred, HELLO! can confirm. The assault reportedly happened on September 26, and the producers and CBS Studios immediately investigated the claims when it was brought to their attention on October 2. Deadline first reported the news.
The conclusion of an internal investigation led to David being fired and escorted off the CBS lot on the same day as the investigation, with series producer Eric Christian Olsen allegedly among those to walk David off the lot. The series will go on a pre-planned hiatus next week before resuming after Thanksgiving, giving the writers almost two months to rework scripts to write the character of Billy Martinez off.
Pitch Perfect star David, 37, starred as Billy Martinez, a first-year associate at Jacobson Moore working alongside Kathy's Madeleine Kingston. Not a reboot of the original series, the show follows wealthy retired lawyer Madeline Kingston who returns to practice to seek justice for the death of her daughter Ellie in the opioid epidemic – using the alias Matty Matlock.
David is married to his wife Katharine, and they live in Texas. They are parents to two-year-old daughter Lilia, and eight-month-old daughter Coco, whom they welcomed earlier in 2025. Katharine has become close with his co-stars; on New Year's Eve in 2024, Skye P. Marshall, who stars as Olympia , Billy's boss in the series, commented on his wife's post, writing: "You are becoming and unbecoming at the same damn time, and that experience in womanhood is soul shaking, fascinating and scary af. And you make it through. Cocoon after cocoon. And now, look at your wings. And your beautiful family. I am in awe. Much love."
He told HELLO! in 2024 that it was "a joy to collaborate" with Kathy Bates, "and have a chance to sneak into the mind of someone who has worked with the Rob Reiners' and the Mike Nicholson's of the world and see what she brings to the table". He also claimed that the hiring of Leah as his colleague Sarah was his "choice," sharing that: "It was really a quick turnaround and they needed me the next day to read for different Sarah's – and Leah Lewis got the role and that was my choice, by the way, I voted for her."
The CBS show has been a critical and commercial hit, and Kathy was nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama for her work in season one, although she lost to Severance's Britt Lower.
Season one saw Matty's plan to discover which lawyer hid pharma documents that could have prevented her daughter’s overdose death become even more tangled, with Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) aware that it was her ex-husband and father to her children Julian (Jason Ritter), who was claiming he did it under orders from his dad, Senior (Beau Bridges).
That will continue to play out in season two, while Matty also grapples with the man who appeared on her doorstep claiming to be her grandson's father.
“Matty thrives as a woman in control. This year she’s not, due to a lot of surprises, so she starts to grip tighter and tighter,” executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman told TV Insider of season two. "That’s not conducive to one’s best work, best friendships, or ability to get to where they want to go."