Shemar Moore Departs Criminal Minds

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BURBANK: After 11 seasons as SSA Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds, Shemar Moore is exiting the hit CBS show.

In the episode “A Beautiful Disaster” on Wednesday, viewers discovered that the character Derek Morgan, who survived a harrowing kidnapping, is leaving the BAU to focus on life with his family. Following the episode, Moore posted a goodbye video message to his Criminal Minds fans.

Executive Producer Erica Messer also shared a message, from the Criminal Minds team: “All of us at Criminal Minds are sad to say ‘see you later’ to Agent Derek Morgan. Even sadder that our friend Shemar Moore isn’t on set anymore. It was definitely a surprise that he wanted ‘To leap,’ as Shemar said, ‘to try new things.’ For those reasons, we have nothing but love and respect for him and his choice. But it doesn’t mean we can’t also be really, really sad.

“It was important that we honor a character who has grown with us for over a decade, which is why we wrote the three-episode arc for Morgan. Those final episodes were directed by fellow actors with the last one co-written by his ‘baby girl,’ Kirsten Vangsness. Thomas Gibson got things started with an amazing journey in ‘Derek,’ followed by our milestone 250th episode directed by Joe Mantegna. Matthew Gray Gubler helmed ‘A Beautiful Disaster,’ helping Shemar and Morgan walk out with a proud, determined stride. One that we’ve been honored to have on our team for 11 years.”