A lot of people have been talking about Thomas Gibson's shocking exit from Criminal Minds late last week. Part of the reason the drama has continued to be brought up is because the former CBS actor has reportedly been talking about taking the series and its parent studio ABC to court. He's already met with lawyers, but there may not be an easy fix. There are myriad reasons for why a lawsuit may not work out in his favor.
According to an analyst who spoke with Deadline, Thomas Gibson will face some major hurdles if he wants to work out this Criminal Minds dispute in court. The actor will need to prove he was let go "for no good reason," according to the outlet. Considering that Thomas Gibson was fired after an altercation with a writer that allegedly led to him kicking said writer, the studio could explain away his firing in a few different ways. He would also have trouble tying his firing to "gender, race, age or religion," which makes his case even more difficult, as well.
What initially seems to have happened was that Thomas Gibson was pulling double duty on the set of Criminal Minds. He was both directing in and acting in an episode of the hit series, when he and writer Virgil Williams got into an argument. While we don't know exactly what happened between the writer and the actor, the exchange grew heated and Thomas Gibson allegedly chose to kick Williams. He was suspended from the set of Criminal Minds and was subsequently fired by ABC Studios, which produces the CBS drama.
Both Williams and Gibson have reportedly had problems on set before last week's big altercation. Thomas Gibson was mentioned as having verbal altercations with some cast members in a separate 2014 lawsuit. Virgil Williams allegedly had an issue on set years ago when he was still working on ER. Obviously, if any sort of lawsuit moves forward, the allegations could get ugly. So not only would Gibson have to prove that he was let go for no reason, he may have to put himself out there in a way that he may not want to do.
Thomas Gibson has kept his cool in the days following the firing, which is about the opposite of what you would expect from a guy who joined Twitter soon after the incident occurred. However, since his salary was so high and ABC Studios already made a final decision on the matter, we're not really sure what a lawsuit could change, other than a payout of some sort. For now, Criminal Minds is still moving forward and is expected to hit the schedule next month. Thomas Gibson will even be in the first couple of episodes before his absence is explained on the series. You can catch new episodes when fall TV returns on Wednesday, September 28 at 9 p.m. ET.
Test your own knowledge regarding Criminal Minds here.
