Matlock found a way to subtly throw shade at David Del Rio‘s exit as Billy after offscreen allegations of sexual assault.

The CBS show returned on Thursday, February 26, with Sarah (Leah Lewis) and Matty (Kathy Bates) meeting with HR representative Gwen Easton (Sarah Wright-Olsen), who asked about Billy’s absence.

“Out sick. Very, very sick. Vomiting,” Sarah said, to which Gwen joked, “Yay, so no need for him to return! Job eliminated. …. Kidding again! It was nice to meet you two.”

Gwen also floated the idea of one of the three people working for Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) being on the chopping block. “Could she make do with two people if one of you takes the generous severance package being offered?” she asked.

Related: Where Was David Del Rio’s ‘Matlock’ Story Line Going Before Firing?

Matlock teased a surprise paternity story line for Billy in season 2 before David Del Rio was fired for allegedly sexually assaulting his costar Leah Lewis. The hit CBS series, which premiered in September 2024, follows a wealthy retired lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) who pretends to be a poor widower named Matty Matlock […]

Del Rio, 38, has been absent from the show since news broke in October 2025 about an alleged incident involving him and his then-costar Lewis, which took place one month prior. Del Rio was “fired and escorted off the lot the same day the alleged assault was reported,” according to reports released at the time.

Lewis, 29, broke her silence at the time by sharing a photo with her mother from set.

“Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands,” she wrote via Instagram in October. “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.”

David’s wife, meanwhile, posted Instagram Stories calling Lewis a “disturbing human being” before deleting them hours later.

Before the scandal, Del Rio spoke to Us Weekly in May 2025 about how the show would be committing to the paternity twist involving his character, Billy. “I’m really excited to see how Billy handles the work balance with the personal balance of it all,” he shared before the season 2 premiere. (His character was written off in the midseason finale when Billy found out his girlfriend miscarried.)

Lewis also weighed in on what was awaiting Sarah in season 2 during the joint interview.

“I remember reading the finale and hoping at the end that Sarah was going to get away scot free with this wonderful victory. Of course the thing happens with Simone and she might need to take accountability,” Lewis hinted. “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. You want to get treated like a big dog. We’ll 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.”

While David has yet to address his firing, Us confirmed in December 2025 that CBS reopened its investigation into the incident.

“David has provided evidence, including text messages between David and Leah and names of witnesses who are willing to talk,” a source exclusively told Us earlier this month. “In light of the evidence, the investigation was reopened.”

The insider claimed Del Rio “has evidence and witnesses that he believes could disprove Leah’s allegation,” adding, “David’s team believes he was fired without appropriate due process or a proper investigation.”

The network’s supplemental investigation concluded earlier this month with CBS standing by their original decision to dismiss Del Rio from the show.

Matlock airs on CBS Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.

Benny Blanco
Dirty Hobbit Feet Weren’t My Fault!!!

Published
February 27, 2026
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Rihanna
Please Don’t Stop The Music …
Back In the Studio

Published
February 27, 2026
5:57 AM PST

The hip-hop world is still reeling after the untimely death of 25-year-old rapper Lil Poppa, and attention has turned to Toie Roberts — Rick Ross’s daughter and mother of Poppa’s only child. Roomies, she’s giving fans a glimpse into her grief, the love they shared and him as a father.

RELATED: Forever Missed! Lil Poppa’s Sister Shares Heartfelt Tribute After His Passing (PHOTOS)

Toie Shares Emotional Tribute Honoring Lil Poppa

In a heartfelt TikTok video this week, Toie shared a caption reading, “till forever ends & that’s NEVER! so don’t give uppppppppppp on us…” alongside several sentimental emojis. Over a one-minute montage, she posted intimate clips showing Lil Poppa, herself, and their son, offering fans a personal look at the bond they shared as a family and the legacy he leaves behind beyond music.

Fans Flood TSR With Condolences For Toie

Roomies immediately flooded TSR’s Instagram comment section, sharing their reactions to Toie Roberts’ heartfelt tribute. Some fans noted how happy Lil Poppa seemed whenever he was with her, highlighting the love they shared. Many others offered condolences, sending prayers and support to Toie and his family during this heartbreaking time.

One Instagram user @wastb said, “i keeppp rewatching this! he really lovedddd you 😢 you bought out that side i see when his family post him“

This Instagram user @nooniezyekasiaa commented, “giving you the biggest virtual hug Eva“

And, Instagram user @Sweetie added, “I couldn’t imagine this pain🥹🫩💔praying for you and pj🙏🏽!!!!”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @ms.darylneisha_ wrote, “Girlllll im so sorry you have to experience this I wish nothing but strength on you 🥺🥺🥺”

While Instagram user @edvanced shared, “This really made me sad. Praying for healing 😩😩”

Lastly, Instagram user @dajabtw added, “I hate this for her, she was the first person I thought about when he died😢”

What Happened To Lil Poppa?

As previously reported, Lil Poppa’s passing has officially been ruled a suicide, the result of a gunshot wound to the head. The news hit just as fans were still reeling from the shock of his sudden death, sending social media into a whirlwind of grief and tributes. Coming shortly after the release of his single ‘Out Of Town Bae,’ many are now reflecting on his recent music, wondering what struggles he may have been facing behind the scenes and mourning the talent taken far too soon.

RELATED: Lil Poppa’s Cause Of Death Confirmed As Close Collaborator Breaks Silence (UPDATE)

Andy Cohen shared a touching message to The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby following the death of her son Robert Cosby Jr.

At the end of the Thursday, February 26, episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Cohen, 57, directed heartfelt words to Mary and her family as they continue to grieve the loss of Robert Jr.

“Before we go, I want to send all my love and heartfelt condolences to Mary Cosby and her family after news broke yesterday about the tragic passing of Mary’s son Robert Jr. This devastatingly sad news is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Cohen said. “My heart breaks for Mary. I will always appreciate getting a small window into the unconditional love between Mary and Robert Jr.”

Cohen went on to praise Mary, 53, for the way she dealt with her son’s struggles over the years, saying, “Mary, you did such a good job.”

The Bravo personality then publicly thanked both the mother and son duo for sharing their story so openly, which he believes will assist others fighting the same battle.

“I know their bravery and their vulnerability in sharing their story has helped and will continue to help countless people who are struggling,” Cohen continued. “Rest in peace Robert Jr. and thanks.”

Us Weekly confirmed on Wednesday, February 25, that Robert Jr. died at age 23 following a suspected overdose in his parents’ Utah home.

“Our beloved son Robert Jr. has been called home to the Lord,” Mary shared in a statement to Us. “Though our hearts ache, we take comfort in God’s promise and in knowing he is finally at peace. We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to carry us through this time of sorrow.”

Robert Jr.’s addiction battle was featured on RHOSLC throughout the past two seasons. Viewers often applauded Mary for her candid approach to opening up about her son’s struggles.

Cohen previously shared his condolences while speaking on the Wednesday, February 25 episode of SiriusXM’s “Andy Cohen Live.”

“We’re so sad to read the news about Mary Cosby’s son, Robert and I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child and in this way,” he said. “[Cohost] John [Hill], you and I have talked so much on this show about addiction and the heartbreak that is associated and I have so much love for Mary.”

Related: Mary Cosby and Husband ‘Struggling’ to ‘Comprehend’ Son’s Death

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The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Mary Cosby and her husband, Robert Cosby Sr., are “struggling to understand” son Robert Cosby Jr.’s death. “Robert Sr. and Mary Cosby are mourning the loss of their beloved son, Robert Clinton Cosby, Jr.,” Clayton Simms, an attorney for the Cosby family, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, […]

Cohen shared that he spoke with Mary for “a while” on Tuesday, February 24 — one day after Robert Jr. died, emphasizing that this is “every parent’s worst nightmare.”

“You and I talked about this too, just about how much respect we had for the way that she spoke to Robert when we saw them talking about this on air and what I really admired was that she kind of met him where he was in a way, and she was kind of gently steering him or guiding him,” Cohen said.

Cohen recalled that Robert Jr. was in jail when the RHOSLC season 6 reunion was filmed. (Robert Jr. violated a protective order in 2025. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was released from jail earlier this month.)

“She was really hoping that he would be scared straight and I guess that didn’t happen,” Cohen claimed. Cohen added that they are “sending all our love to Mary and Robert.”

There’s a certain kind of horror film you grow up with and never quite let go of — the ones with fog creeping over papier-mâché gravestones, with monsters who look confused about being alive in the first place. The old Universal cycle, the late-night AMC marathons, the days when your local channel would air The Bride of Frankenstein right after reruns of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Tim Burton must have inhaled that stuff straight into his lungs, because when he started making his own films, you could feel all those classic shadows flickering behind him like someone holding a flashlight to an old bedroom wall.

And if you watched enough Tales from the Darkside or those early X-Files creature features where the monster wasn’t the villain so much as the problem nobody wanted to look at, Edward Scissorhands hits you like a memory you forgot you owned. What it really has is that same nervous, tender feeling you get from The Elephant Man — the way the film sits with someone who doesn’t fit and doesn’t apologize for it. Burton throws that sensibility into a suburb so bright it almost buzzes, and the whole place suddenly feels a little off, like the smile doesn’t match the eyes. Frankenstein author Mary Shelley would’ve cracked a smile.

The Monster on the Hill Was Never the Scariest Part

People forget this now, but there was a moment in the early ‘90s when Edward Scissorhands felt almost too gentle to be grouped in with horror-adjacent films. But if you peel back the candy colors and the Aqua Net haze, the Frankenstein bones are right there. The castle is a repurposed laboratory, the inventor is a kind of lonely father playing god with trembling hands, and Edward… well, Edward is the most sympathetic monster the genre’s seen since Boris Karloff’s creature opened his eyes for the first time.

What separates Burton’s version from the usual “man creates creature, regrets it” loop is that Edward isn’t wrong or dangerous or flawed — he’s unfinished. That’s a different kind of ache. Most Frankenstein stories hinge on hubris; this one hinges on opportunity stolen. The tragedy isn’t that he exists, it’s that he never gets to exist fully. And adding to the bittersweet nature of the film is horror legend Vincent Price, giving his last performance as Edward’s creator with the kind of gentle sadness that makes the whole film feel like a farewell wrapped in lace.

And when Edward walks into the town below, scissors held like a boy afraid to touch anything, he becomes the thing every Frankenstein creature becomes: a mirror. The neighbors project their fantasies, then their fears. They invent sins he never commits, then punish him for them. The real horror in Edward Scissorhands is the suburbia that smiles warmly until it decides it needs someone to bleed.

‘Frankenweenie’s Earnest Little Heartbeat

Image Via Disney

But Burton didn’t arrive at Edward out of nowhere. Long before the hair gel and the black-and-white striped suits, he made a little short called Frankenweenie. A kid resurrecting his dog Sparky sounds cute on paper, but the short has that unmistakable Burton grief around its edges — the kind that comes from a person who knows what it’s like to love something fragile and fear the world won’t play fair.

The short is practically a handwritten thank-you note to the original Frankenstein. You still get the lightning in the attic, and the little stitched-together creature who only wants to curl back up where he belonged, and the neighbors freak out right on cue the second anything looks unfamiliar. But underneath all the gags and the obvious callbacks, there’s this unexpectedly raw pulse to it — like Burton wasn’t making a homage so much as sorting through something he didn’t have language for yet.

Related

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Duvall is a loving and open-minded mother in Burton’s 1984 short film.

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The short’s clunky in spots, but the honesty keeps poking through anyway. Sparky never reads like a monster; he’s just a dog who got one more shot, and that small, almost ordinary truth hits harder than any of the visual tricks. Watching it now, you can feel Burton fumbling toward the thing he’d chase for years afterward: not the horror, not the spoof, but the soft, tired little heartbreak that sits inside anything we insist on calling a “monster.”

When Burton circled back to Frankenweenie years later, the stop-motion version didn’t feel like some grand artistic declaration — it felt like a guy finally admitting he’d been carrying something around for a long time and needed to get it out of his system. The feature-length Frankenweenie doesn’t feel “bigger” so much as it feels like Burton had more room to wander around the same wound he’d poked at in the short. There’s no big stylistic ta-da. It just settles into this quieter, tired sort of grief. Victor isn’t playing junior inventor anymore; he looks more like a kid who hasn’t figured out how to live with the empty space a pet leaves behind, so he does the one thing that makes sense to him, even if it’s absolutely the thing adults warn you not to touch.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ Is the Most Human Monster Tim Burton Ever Built

Edward Scissorhands is Burton’s masterpiece for a reason. He’s a Frankenstein creature who feels like he was assembled from empathy instead of sinew. His scissors — sharp, delicate, impractical — are a metaphor disguised as limbs. The hands he should’ve had are the life he never got to touch. When he trims hedges or ice sculptures, it isn’t spectacle, it’s a silent wish for connection.

The town never really gets a chance to understand him — not with all those pastel walls and stiff little routines they cling to like talismans. One minute they’re delighted by what he can do for them, the next they’re spooked by a drop of blood or a gesture they decide looks “wrong,” and from there it’s a straight slide into judgment. The ending lands the way all great monster stories land — not with justice, but with distance. Edward returns to the shadows, creating beauty for a world that only wants it as long as it doesn’t come with strings. It’s the classic Frankenstein ending dressed in Burton’s melancholy: the monster didn’t hurt the world, the world hurt him.

Tim Burton may be known for his stripes and spirals and all that candy-coated goth whimsy, but his real legacy sits with these two films. Frankenweenie is the spark. Edward Scissorhands is a fully grown creature. And together they prove that the best Frankenstein stories aren’t about monsters at all — they’re about love, and the terrible, inevitable truth that creation comes with loss baked right into the blueprint.

Edward Scissorhands is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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Release Date

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December 14, 1990

Runtime

105 minutes

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Producers

Denise Di Novi

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Mark Ruffalo is MCU’s silent selfless king. The dude got no individual movie and yet we all know Hulk like the back of our hands. And the credit goes to the actor. The best Mark Ruffalo MCU performances hit in that exact sweet spot where Bruce Banner feels like the smartest person in the room and also the most emotionally scrambled. Ruffalo gives Bruce this nervous humanity, this constant internal negotiation, and then the Hulk side comes in with chaos, pride, fear, or raw pain and changes the temperature of the whole scene.

So this ranking is about where Ruffalo gets the most to play, not just big Hulk moments, but real Bruce material too. The strongest entries let him be funny, conflicted, awkward, wounded, and unexpectedly moving, amazingly human, and sometimes all of these in the same stretch of the movie. Ruffalo isn’t credited enough for the amazing work he did as Bruce Banner and it’s time we give him some credit for it.

5

‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)

Image via Marvel Studios

A lot of people remember Age of Ultron for the bigger chaos, but it’s a really solid Bruce Banner movie because Ruffalo gets to lean into Bruce’s discomfort in a team that’s starting to feel too comfortable with destruction. Bruce Banner is already carrying that quiet dread, the sense that every mission could become a situation where Hulk does damage nobody can cleanly justify later. Ruffalo plays that tension in his posture and timing, and it gives Bruce a nice emotional texture while everyone else is talking louder.

The Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) connection is where the movie gets more layered for him. Ruffalo plays Bruce like a man who wants closeness and still instinctively flinches from it, which fits the character’s whole life. Then the Hulkbuster fight turns that fear into spectacle, and it works because Bruce’s worst anxiety becomes visible to the entire world. By the end, his exit lands with sadness because you can feel how tired he is of being both the solution and the problem.

4

‘The Avengers’ (2012)

Image via Marvel Studios 

The Avengers is one of Ruffalo’s most lovable MCU performances because he walks into a giant ensemble and immediately gives Bruce a clear vibe: brilliant, wary, polite, and one bad day away from disaster. The Avengers had to reintroduce Banner and make audiences care fast, and Ruffalo nails that in minutes. The way he talks to Black Widow, the way he enters the helicarrier, the way he watches everyone else’s energy before joining in, you instantly get a Bruce who lives in self-monitoring mode.

And then the movie rewards that setup with one of the best character-payoff lines in the whole MCU. Ruffalo’s “I’m always angry” moment was epic. It makes you see how he played with so much contained tension before it. The transformation in the final battle feels triumphant and a little scary at the same time, which is exactly the right mix for Banner/Hulk. He also brings sneaky humor all over this movie, and that compounded in the later MCU installments as well. All in all, Ruffalo made Bruce feel like a real person inside the blockbuster machine.

3

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)

Image via Marvel Studios

What makes Ruffalo great in Infinity War is that the movie flips his usual Banner/Hulk dynamic and lets him play panic, embarrassment, and desperation in a really entertaining way. Bruce Banner arrives with catastrophic information, nobody has time, and he’s trying to get the team to understand the scale of what’s coming while also dealing with a Hulk who suddenly refuses to come out. That reversal gives Ruffalo a ton to work with. Bruce is used to fearing Hulk’s presence; here he’s terrified of Hulk’s absence.

It also makes the comedy sharper because the jokes grow out of a real character crisis. The Hulk “won’t perform” angle could have felt throwaway, but Ruffalo played Bruce’s frustration beautifully . His Wakanda material was especially fun too because he’s still fully committed to helping, even when he’s improvising with technology and pride on the line. The movie keeps him active, useful, and emotionally frazzled, which is generally a great Ruffalo zone.

2

‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017)

Image via Marvel Studios

Thor: Ragnarok showed the most different version of Hulk too — not just Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth). It gave him room to be weird, funny, and vulnerable without losing the Bruce/Hulk tension. Bruce Banner wakes up after being gone for a long time, and Ruffalo plays the disorientation beautifully, confused, chatty, anxious, and trying to piece together what Hulk has been doing with his life on Sakaar. It’s funny right away, but there’s also a genuine sadness underneath it because Bruce realizes time and control have slipped through his fingers again.

The movie let Ruffalo bounce off Hemsworth in a way that brings out a totally different rhythm in Bruce. Their chemistry is great because Thor is all momentum and Bruce is all internal noise. Then the story keeps pushing Bruce into situations where he has to choose whether to become Hulk again, knowing what that choice may cost him. Ruffalo makes those beats land with actual emotional weight. By the end, he feels both hilarious and deeply fragile, which is exactly what made him so watchable here.

1

‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)

Image via Marvel Studios

This gets the top spot because Endgame finally lets Ruffalo play the result of years of conflict instead of just the conflict itself. Bruce Banner, at this point, had merged Banner and Hulk into Smart Hulk. While the performance could have been a gimmick, Ruffalo made it feel like a coping strategy, a breakthrough, and a slightly awkward new identity all at once. There’s confidence in him now, but it’s still Bruce’s confidence, gentle, nerdy, eager to be helpful, a little self-conscious in social situations even when he’s in a giant green body.

What pushes it to number one is the emotional layering in the middle and back half. The time-heist scenes let Ruffalo be funny in a fresh way, especially when Bruce has to confront older Hulk-era chaos. Then the snap aftermath gives him real weight. He’s the one who uses the gauntlet, and Ruffalo plays the cost like a man choosing pain because he can survive it better than the others. In Endgame, Hulk was not the loudest Avenger, but he felt essential at every step. He was steady, wounded, still fighting. It’s Ruffalo’s fullest MCU movie.

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Avengers: Endgame

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Release Date

April 26, 2019

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Runtime

181 Minutes

Writers

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Keith Giffen, Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, Jim Starlin, Joe Simon, Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby, Steve Gan, Bill Mantlo, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Markus

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• 

  Robert Downey Jr.

  Tony Stark / Iron Man

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  Chris Evans

  Steve Rogers / Captain America

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