David Del Rio made an unexpected return to Instagram following his firing from Matlock amid sexual assault allegations.
Del Rio, 38, was featured with his wife, Katherine Del Rio, and their two daughters — Lilliam Kellie Wallace, 2, and Coco, 11 months — in a late Thanksgiving tribute to the couple’s friends and family via Instagram on Saturday, December 6.
Along with a collage of festive photos and videos, Katherine, 34, wrote, “Belated Thanksgiving fun! Deeply thankful for my family — who always show up for the girls and I.”
Us Weekly confirmed in October that Matlock would write out Del Rio’s character Billy Martinez for the remaining season 2 episodes. Deadline broke the news that the actor was “fired and escorted off the lot” on the same day as an alleged incident with costar Leah Lewis was reported to CBS in late September.
Katherine defended her husband in the wake of the controversy by sharing a photo of Lewis, 28, via her Instagram Story, along with a caption across Lewis’s face which read: “This is the most disturbing human being I have ever met.”
David’s wife later deleted the photo. Lewis was following Katherine on Instagram hours before her former costar’s wife took aim at her, but has since unfollowed Katherine.
Friends of the couple confirmed to Us in October that Katherine had chosen to “stand by” the embattled actor in the wake of his Matlock firing.
“They’re a family and staying together,” an insider told Us.
David has not yet addressed his departure from Matlock. Us reached out to his representatives when news broke.
Meanwhile, Lewis broke her silence on the situation on October 9 by revealing that her mother had come for a visit.
“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands,” she wrote alongside a photo of her hugging her mom. “Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength.”
Matlock went on a pre-planned hiatus following the investigation into David’s alleged conduct, as the cast had completed the entirety of filming on the first half of season 2. David’s character — Jacobson Moore junior lawyer Billy — is expected to be written out in the back half of the season.
Lewis confirmed on Monday, December 1, that she had returned to filming Matlock for the first time since the hiatus. (Lewis has played Billy’s Jacobson Moore colleague Sarah Franklin on both seasons of the CBS legal drama.)
“And we back up and running,” the actress wrote alongside a photo of herself on set.
Her costar Beau Bridges had previously confirmed during an interview with Access Hollywood’s Mario Lopez that the cast of Matlock would be back at work before Christmas.
“I don’t want to give up too much. We’ve already done half of the second season, and we’re getting back at it in about a week to do the second half,” Bridges, 83, revealed earlier this month. “But I’ll just say that [my character] Senior always has a few tricks up his sleeve, which I’m happy that’s true.”
Matlock — a gender-swapped legal drama, starring Kathy Bates, which is inspired by Andy Griffith’s classic show of the same name — airs its midseason finale on CBS Thursday, December 11, at 9 p.m. ET. The second half of the season is expected to premiere in February 2026.
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