Criminal Minds has fired the violent and abusive actor Thomas Gibson after 12 seasons after the shocking on-set fight during which he physically assaulted and kicked the writer of the episode, Virgil Williams.
It's the second violent on-set incident the aggressive Thomas Gibson had been involved in since he joined the cast of the procedural crime drama as the character of Aaron Hotchner "Hotch" when the BAU profiler series started in 2005.
In 2010 Thomas Gibson has a violent on-set outburst towards a Criminal Minds assistant director that got him sent to anger management classes. Several sources since claimed that Thomas Gibson was frequently verbally abusive on-set to fellow cast and crew members.
Thomas Gibson was suspended for two episodes earlier this week and lost all further directing slots after he got angry and physically attacked the writer of the episode that was being filmed.
Thomas Gibson told TMZ earlier in the week his actions were "in retaliation" and blamed the writer who became "aggressive". It seems as if according to Thomas Gibson there's apparently certain situations where's it's okay to physically assault someone.
Earlier in the week in a statement Thomas Gibson said "there were creative differences on the set and a disagreement. I regret that it occurred. We all want to work together as a team to make the best show possible. We always have and always will".
ABC Studios and CBS TV Studios that jointly produce Criminal Minds seen in South Africa on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) now say in a statement that Thomas Gibson will no longer return and that the actor has been fired from the show with immediate effect.
The character's abrupt departure as the head of the unit and his permanent off-screen absence will be explained away during upcoming episodes.
"Thomas Gibson has been dismissed from Criminal Minds," said ABC Studios and CBS TV Studios late on Friday. "Creative details for how the character's exit will be addressed in the show will be announced at a later date".
In a separate statement, failing to address his violent attack or to apologise, Thomas Gibson says "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. I would just like to say thank you to the writers, producers, actors, our amazing crew, and, most importantly, the best fans that a show could ever hope to have".
[Editor: When I did a set visit to the Criminal Minds soundstage in Glendale, California a few years back, interestingly the whole cast sat for interviews, except one, for whatever reason.]
