All of America was amazing that night.
The long-running CW drama killed off its main character.
Taye Diggs – who portrayed Billy Baker in All American since its premiere in 2018 – was thrown in an unexpected turn of events that led to a fatal bus accident.
What caused such a development?!?
A request from Diggs himself, it turns out.
“It has been an honor to work with Taye for the past five seasons and watch him bring incredible life to the role of Billy Baker,” Executive Producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll said in a statement after season 5 premiered.
“It’s really been a gift for me and my fellow writers to write characters who are equally flawed and heroic.”
Executive Producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll released a statement to ET on Friday, addressing Diggs’ departure from the show after five years.
He added:
“Billy is all of us and it’s been a pleasure to watch this character grow as he raises his children and the footballers as one big family.
“We wish Taye the best in the next chapter of his life and that he remains a beloved member of the All American family.”
Carrol also said, in an interesting way, that viewers may “not have seen the last of Billy Baker.”
During an emotional hour, Billy and the South Crenshaw football players participated in a combine that gave the kids a chance to show off their skills to college coaches.
On the way home from the show, the bus carrying Billy, Asher, Jabari and the rest of the Crenshaw cast blows a tire, causing an accident that sends the bus dangerously over the edge of a cliff.
Soon, the episode closes with Billy’s family learning of his death.
Diggs told TV Line on Friday night that he is “one hundred” percent open to going back through the flashback, making it clear there are no hard feelings of any kind on either side.
“I’m very happy,” Diggs also told TV Line about how this call came about.
“It was just a feeling I had [that I was ready to leave], and I just respect that feeling. It might be midway through season four.
“I don’t even remember, to be honest, because the showrunner and I are close. We’d stayed in contact, so he knew, and we talked.
“And we decided how it was going to be, and the storyline and so on, so everything was above board, and everybody knew it.”
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