EXCLUSIVE: There is another exit from CBS‘ upcoming FBI offshoot CIA. Eriq La Salle has left the series as executive producer, Deadline has learned.
His departure comes as Michael Michele, one of the series’ leads, exited late last week, as Deadline revealed exclusively.
The crime drama, which was picked up in April with a straight-to-series order, underwent a showrunner change in July, with Warren Leight replacing FBI: Most Wanted‘s David Hudgins.
La Salle had been attached since before the showrunner switch to direct and executive produce the opening episode of CIA. He did direct Episode 101 as planned. Filming on the series, which started in September, is currently continuing, not impacted by the departures, for a midseason premiere on CBS.
Earlier this year, La Salle signed a two-book deal with Penguin Random House’s Sourcebooks for the next two books (#4 and #5) in his thriller series Martyr Maker, with book 4 slated for release in September 2026. (The first three books were published in 2012, 2014 and 2023.) As he is stepping back from CIA, he will be focusing on writing.
CIA stars Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss as two unlikely partners — a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (Ellis), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent (Gehlfuss) who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple are assigned to work out of CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength.
The role played by Michele, the head of CIA’s New York Station, may be recast. The show also stars Natalee Linez as a CIA analyst.
Originally planned for a fall 2025 premiere, CIA in July was pushed to midseason. Dick Wolf and Leight executive produce alongside Nicole Perlman, David Chasteen, and Peter Jankowski. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces in association with Wolf Entertainment and CBS Studios.
La Salle has been a Wolf Entertainment mainstay for the past decade. He was co-executive producer/director and executive producer/director on Chicago P.D., executive producer, director and cast member on On Call, and also has directed for FBI, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Med and Chicago Justice.
Former ER star La Salle also has a first-look deal with Universal Television.
