Shemar Moore made his final appearance on "Criminal Minds" Wednesday night, and many of his female fans are heartbroken.
The 45-year-old actor played headstrong FBI Special Agent Derek Morgan -- famous for his catchphrase "baby girl" -- on all 11 seasons of the popular crime drama. The show handled his departure with a three-episode arc, which concluded Wednesday with Morgan leaving the bureau to focus on his family.
In real life, Moore, who came to "Criminal Minds" after 11 years on "Young and the Restless," is off to "leap" at "new things," as he told executive producer Erica Messer.
"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," Messer said in a statement addressing Moore's departure.
Indeed, sadness seem to be the overriding emotion from fans on Twitter.
Shemar Moore is leaving Criminal Minds...might as well rip my heart out and stomp on it ??
— payoncé (@pageypage13) March 24, 2016
shemar moore is officially leaving criminal minds after 11 seasons classes should be cancelled in his honor
— Nicole Tillotson (@nictillotson) March 24, 2016
imagine waking up to the news that shemar moore is leaving criminal minds and then pretending to be okay with it
— ???jamielee (@jaamieleexo) March 24, 2016
Shemar Moore leaving criminal minds makes me want to lay in bed for the rest of my life and cry
— riley odonnell (@rileyodonnell14) March 24, 2016
Shemar moore is leaving criminal minds and I haven't been this badly hurt since Gideon left
— mimmina (@JasmineGlanvo) March 24, 2016
shemar moore is leaving criminal minds and i'm so emotional abt it. like who's gonna call garcia babygirl i nEED ANWSERS @shemarmoore
— naudia:-) (@its_naudiaaa) March 24, 2016
When you find out @shemarmoore is leaving #CriminalMinds pic.twitter.com/wnchU0taST
— Mikaela (@maccarter_) March 24, 2016
This is a cruel, sick joke @shemarmoore ?? You better not be leaving ?? #CriminalMinds pic.twitter.com/NOMnMtCGTx
— Lex (@alexakauffman) March 24, 2016
In tears because @shemarmoore is leaving #CriminalMinds ???
— leslie ? (@lesliegiselle01) March 24, 2016
all the females of the Walton house are crying bc Shemar Moore is leaving criminal minds and it was an emotional episode
— amanda walton (@amndawlton) March 24, 2016
Moore addressed his fans directly in a video posted just after his final episode aired.
"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," Moore says in the video. "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 every day, 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."
He added, "I’ve had a ball. So this party might be ending with me in it, but I promise you, I’ma throw another party and invite all of you."