David Del Rio has hired Kim Kardashian’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, several weeks after being fired from the CBS legal drama Matlock, Us Weekly can confirm.
TMZ reported on Wednesday, November 5, that actor, 38, has retained Holley, 63, as his attorney in the aftermath of his abrupt Matlock departure following an investigation into sexual assault allegations. Holley’s clients include Kardashian, 45, as well as Justin Bieber and Lindsay Lohan.
An alleged incident involving Del Rio and costar Leah Lewis took place toward the end of September. When Lewis, 28, reported it to CBS days later, Del Rio was immediately “fired and escorted off the lot,” Deadline reported at the time.
Del Rio has not publicly commented on the firing, though Lewis spoke out via Instagram last month.
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“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands,” she wrote at the time. “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.”
Matlock’s second season premiered on October 12. Del Rio’s character, Billy, was expected to be written off in the second half of the season.
Ahead of the actor’s firing, Matlock set up an emotional scene between Billy and Sarah (Lewis) in the October 23 episode of the hit series. Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) had been distracted by her conflict with Matty (Kathy Bates), and tried to blame Sarah for making a mistake in a case. It was Olympia’s fault, actually, and Billy came to Sarah’s defense. “Stop gaslighting Sarah,” Billy told Olympia.
Later, Sarah thanked Billy for “the way you stood up for me with Olympia even though you are so conflict-averse. The point is, you did it.”
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Billy, for his part, recognized how his show of support for Sarah had “meant a lot” to her.
Back in May, Del Rio spoke to Us about the show’s paternity twist involving Billy and his ex. “I’m really excited to see how Billy handles the work-balance with the personal-balance of it all,” he shared at the time.
Lewis also addressed Sarah’s path on Matlock ahead of season 2.
“I remember reading the finale and hoping at the end that Sarah was going to get away scot-free with this wonderful victory,” she said. “Of course, the thing happens with Simone and she might need to take accountability. To be honest, this is where we really get to see if Sarah can step up to the plate for the thing that she has been begging for, asking for and working so hard for.”
Matlock’s David Del Rio Fired After Leah Lewis Sexual Assault Allegations
She continued, “You want to get treated like a big dog. Well, start acting like a big dog. I feel like this season we’ll definitely probably get to see her mature a bit more on that aspect. Her professional win is not over yet.”
