‘All American’ Shocker: Taye Diggs Departs CW Drama
Taye Diggs has left the All American building.
The actor, who has starred on The CW drama as Billy Baker since its late 2018 launch, was shockingly killed off of the series during the Feb. 13 episode.
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“It has been an honor to work with Taye over these last five seasons and to watch him bring such incredible life to the role of Billy Baker,” showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “It has truly been a gift for me and my fellow writers to write a character that was equally flawed and heroic. Billy was all of us and what a joy it was to watch this character grow as he raised his kids and his football players as one big family. We wish Taye the very best in this next chapter of his life and he remains a beloved member of the All American family, so you haven’t seen the last of Billy Baker.”
During the episode, titled “Time,” Diggs’ Billy accepts the head coaching job at GAU, where he was set to reunite with Spencer (Daniel Ezra) and his son, Jordan (Michael Evans Behling). After a showcase for college coaches, the bus transporting Billy, Asher (Cody Christian) and Jabari (Simeon Daise) and the team crashes after blowing a tire. After Billy and the team exit the vehicle, the coach realizes that Jabari is unaccounted for and goes back for him. While viewers are left to wonder about Jabari’s fate, the final scene of the episode reveals that Billy does not survive. As for Spencer, he learns of Billy’s fate while listening to a voicemail his father figure and former coach left for him after he declined a call from him.
Diggs has been central to the All American cast for its entire five-season run. The series, one of the highest-rated at The CW, has already been renewed for its sixth season. The drama from exec producer Greg Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV, was the first to be renewed under The CW’s new ownership, Nexstar, but sources say the station group will likely feature fewer than a handful of U.S. scripted originals as it looks to make the network profitable for the first time. Under previous owners CBS Studios and Warner Bros. TV — who each still retain a 12.5 percent stake in the network — The CW was created as a way to sell content globally and to streamers. With the launch of HBO Max and Paramount+, however, the network’s business model changed and both studios divested in the network after it became more important to keep domestic and international streaming rights to CW fare in-house.
Diggs, meanwhile, recently reprised his role in Peacock’s The Best Man: The Final Chapters and counts Broadway’s Rent and features How Stella Got Her Groove Back among his lengthy list of film, TV and stage credits. He also recently hosted Hulu dating competition series Back in the Groove.
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