Criminal Minds has lost its lead actor Damon Gupton, who played Supervisory Special Agent Stephen Walker on the series.
The news comes as a big blow for the show, which also lost former lead, Thomas Gibson, who played Aaron Hotchner, last year.
Damon, who appeared in just 15 episodes, confirmed the news on Twitter by replying to a tweet from American football player Tyvis Powell.
The departure of Damon comes as a shock considering CBS only recently hired the actor to replace Thomas, who had been let go following an alleged incident with a series writer.
Thomas was suspended and then promptly sacked by the network, who released the following statement at the time:
“Thomas Gibson has been dismissed from Criminal Minds. Creative details for how the character’s exit will be addressed in the show will be announced at a later date.”
Thomas later told Digital Spy that he was sad to leave the series.
“I love Criminal Minds and have put my heart and soul into it for the last 12 years. I had hoped to see it through to the end, but that won’t be possible now. I would just like to say thank you to the writers, producers, actors, our amazing crew, and, most importantly, the best fans that a show could ever hope to have.”
Gibson started in Criminal Minds from the very first episode back in 2005 with many fans sad to see his character go.
Damon might not be the only lead we farewell on the show this year, Deadline has recently reported that Criminal Minds co-stars AJ Cook and Kristen Vangsness are trying to negotiate better salaries and may walk if they aren’t happy with the results.
The network is yet to confirm the unfortunate news. Criminal Minds will return for its thirteenth season later this year.
