Law & Order: SVU's Demore Barnes speaks out on his surprise exit: “I don’t totally know why this has happened"

TVLine

Two weeks after news broke that Barnes and co-star Jamie Gray Hyder were exiting the NBC drama with next week's Season 23 premeire, the actor has broken his silence in a video posted to Instagram. “I know you’re sad and surprised — I am, too," he said, adding: “I don’t totally know why this has happened.” Barnes also said he was “so very proud to have played the first Black deputy chief in SVU history.”