Shemar Moore leaving ‘Criminal Minds’ after 11 seasons

It’s been a long run for Shemar Moore, but it’s now coming to an end.

The actor revealed he’s leaving the CBS drama Criminal Minds after playing the sexy, headstrong FBI special agent Derek Morgan for 11 seasons.

Wednesday night’s episode was Moore’s final appearance. Criminal Minds wrote his character out by having him leave the bureau to focus on his family.

Moore posted a heartfelt video message to CBS.com and YouTube, but unfortunately it’s not available for viewing in Canada.

In the video, the actor said:

“To my homies, to my fans, to my baby girls: Cry if you have to, scream and yell if you have to, smile, smile, laugh, celebrate. This is not goodbye; this is goodbye to this part of a dream, this chapter. I’m not going anywhere. You guys haven’t gone anywhere. Without you, my dream is not possible. I can dream all day everyday, but I can’t make it work unless you support me, unless you root for me, unless you watch me and you believe in me. With whatever success I may have, it means nothing unless I inspire others. So whoever you are, I’m just like you. I’ve had a ball. So this party might be ending with me in it, but I promise you, I’mma throw another party and invite all of you.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "To my homies, to my fans, to my baby girls: Cry if you have to, scream and yell if you have to, smile, smile, laugh, celebrate. This is not goodbye; this is goodbye to this part of a dream, this chapter. I'm not going anywhere. You guys haven't gone anywhere. Without you, my dream is not possible. I can dream all day everyday, but I can't make it work unless you support me, unless you root for me, unless you watch me and you believe in me. With whatever success I may have, it means nothing unless I inspire others. So whoever you are, I'm just like you. I've had a ball. So this party might be ending with me in it, but I promise you, I'mma throw another party and invite all of you."

Criminal Minds showrunner Erica Messer posted a statement addressing Moore’s departure. Among other things, she said, “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. 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.”

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Moore’s Criminal Minds co-stars, including Joe Mantegna, A. J. Cook, Thomas Gibson, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Kirsten Vangsness paid tribute to him in a goodbye video (also not available for viewing in Canada).

Moore’s career started out on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, where he played Malcolm Winters. From there he moved to Criminal Minds, and now he’s off on a new adventure. The actor’s IMDb page shows that his next appearance will be in the movie The Bounce Back.