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Thomas Gibson Outraged At Dismissal From ‘Criminal Minds,’ Shemar Moore Says It’s All Gibson’s Fault

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 01:18 PST, Aug 21, 2016

Thomas Gibson, the American actor and director, has been dismissed from the cast of Criminal Minds, a CBS drama series in which an elite team strives to defeat the nation’s most dangerous criminals. Before his dismissal, Thomas had played the role of Aaron Hotchner, a Supervisory Special Agent who heads the FBI’s fictional Behavioral Analysis Unit. Thomas is a well-known television personality as is known to have featured in popular series like CBS’s Chicago Hope and ABC’s Dharma & Greg.

Criminal Minds‘s producers decided to dismiss Thomas after the actor kicked Virgil Williams, the show’s writer-producer, in the midst of a heated verbal altercation. Thomas was initially suspended from the series for two episodes. However, the producers eventually decided to dismiss him for the misconduct.

Currently, the producers are grappling with the issue of portraying the abrupt exit of one of the most popular characters in the series. TV Line conducted a survey amongst audience members to understand how they would like to see Thomas’s character exit from the series. According to TV Line, 31 percent of those surveyed would like to see Aaron Hotchner leave the FBI to concentrate on his family life, while another 23 percent of respondents would like to see the character killed in action.

Surprisingly, only 7 percent of the audience surveyed would like Thomas to be rehired on the show — a figure which does not seem to represent the majority of people who have expressed their disappointment and outrage at the firing on social media. Thomas Gibson himself is clearly disappointed with the decision, as he is emotionally attached to his on-screen character that he played with unflinching integrity and enormous strength. Just Jared reported that a bitter Thomas Gibson released a statement to voice his resentment over being laid off.

“I love Criminal Minds and have put my heart and soul into it for the last twelve years. I had hoped to see it through to the end, but that won’t be possible now.”

The 54-year-old has featured in the television series since its inception and has been known to cross swords with the show’s assistant director as well. In fact, Thomas Gibson previously had to undergo anger management therapy to assist him to curb his violent anger outbursts.

Now, the actor is looking for ways to file a lawsuit against the show’s producers to compensate him for his unfair dismissal. According to Us Magazine, the Brush With Fate actor has already approached a law firm to fight his case in the courtroom.

Thomas Gibson’s move came just hours after it was declared that he was fired from the show. It has been reported that the actor has approached Miller Barondess LLP, a law firm founded by accomplished lawyer Louis R. Miller. The legal firm is known to have successful represented many high-profile lawsuits in California. However, the law firm is yet to evaluate whether the outraged actor has a strong case against the producers of Criminal Minds.

Thomas Gibson was also known to direct his anger towards his co-stars including Shemar Moore, the actor who worked with Thomas for 11 seasons of the series before quitting. Earlier, the Eyes Wide Shut actor had criticized Moore when the latter used to arrive late on the set of the show. According to TV Line, Moore had posted a video on his Instagram account in which he indirectly hinted that Thomas is a victim of his own wrongdoing.

“I believe in Karma. Good things happen to good people. Honest people. Hardworking people. Humble people. People who believe in basic goodness… Treat people how you expect them to treat you.”

Even though Moore removed the video from Instagram, his statement was seen by plenty of people during its short life, and the message was well and truly received.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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