Why is Taye Diggs leaving All American? About Billy’s death…

The news that we have tonight is sad but true: Taye Diggs is leaving All American. The actor was a cornerstone of the story for years and yet now, Billy Baker is gone. He died trying to save his players after the bus crash and now, we’re setting up for a reflective episode where everyone will do their best to remember him. That will be hard.

It’s important to remember here that while Billy was a mentor to many on the show, Taye also was to the younger cast on the show. At the end of the day, this was not a story forced on him; rather, it was his choice to leave and something he approached the creative team about. Here is what he had to say on the subject in an interview with TVLine:

I was having a great time. It was just a feeling that I got [that I was ready to leave], and I just honored that feeling. It was maybe mid-fourth season. I don’t even remember, to be honest, because the showrunner [Nkechi Okoro Carroll] and myself are close. We’d been keeping in contact, so she had known, and we’d been talking. And we decided how to go about it, and storylines and whatnot, so it was all above board, and everyone was in the know.

There is so much class that clearly went into this from start to finish. Diggs let the producers know far ahead of time that he was ready to move on, and they were kind enough to honor that request and give his character a worthy send-off. He then was gracious enough to stay around for that ending to happen. There is enough time left in the season now for everyone to mourn but even still, we don’t think anyone’s going to ever forget Billy. His spirit will remain with these characters no longer how long the show lasts.

Related – Where is All American going to go after this?

What are you going to miss the most about Taye Diggs being a part of All American?

Be sure to let us know below, and also keep coming back for other insight all about the show. (Photo: The CW.)

This article was written by Jessica BunBun.