Inside Mark Salling's Shocking Downfall

Eventually, in 2013, as the show was starting to enter its what-now-after-high-school period, Salling joined Dianna Agron, Heather Morris, Amber Riley and Harry Shum, Jr. in being bumped down from series regular.

He never said much publicly after Cory Monteith's July 2013 death. Salling did join the outpouring of grief among his co-stars when it happened, tweeting, "going through a million memories and emotions today. ill love you always Brother Cory."

But he already had his own problems to deal with. In January 2013 he had been accused in a lawsuit of sexual battery, dating back to March 2011; the plaintiff, a former girlfriend, said he ignored her demand he put on a condom before having sex and proceeded to have unprotected contact with her. When her calls later on to quell her concerns about catching STDs went ignored, she went to his house; there, the suit alleged, he grabbed and pushed her, causing her to hit her head.

At the 2013 SAG Awards days later, Salling, who denied the claims, told E! News on the red carpet, "You hear about fraudulent lawsuits all the time. Until it happens to you, you really don't grasp what it does, not to just you, but to your family, and you want the legal process to happen as fast as possible, but just...It takes time. I just want the chance to defend myself—and I will, vigorously."

He countersued the woman that March; both complaints were eventually settled in March 2015, with Salling ordered to pay her $2.7 million.

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