Shemar Moore exits "Criminal Minds" after 11 seasons
Everybody has to go sometime.
Shemar Moore is saying goodbye to his "Criminal Minds" character, FBI agent Derek Moore, after 11 seasons on the hit crime drama.
Wednesday's episode, which featured Moore's character choosing family over a dangerous career and focusing on his pregnant fiancée (played by Rochelle Aytes) instead of the FBI. But although his character is approaching retirement, Moore has found stepping away from the series something that takes some getting used to.
"It's a weird experience," Moore told The Hollywood Reporter. "I just spent 11 years with a group of people, and it's a weird thing to walk away from -- but I did it on my terms and in the right way."
Erica Messer, executive producer for "Criminal Minds," addressed Moore's departure in a letter posted to the show's website. "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," she wrote. "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."