File this under “how not to resolve creative differences.” Criminal Minds star Thomas Gibson has been suspended from the show’s set for two weeks after kicking a writer.
Apparently, Gibson, who’s been part of the cast since the show’s premiere in 2005 as SSA Aaron Hotchner, was directing and acting in a scene when he had a disagreement with a writer and responded by kicking him in the leg. Cue the writer contacting his agent, said agent contacting CBS and Gibson getting suspended by the network. According to sources, Gibson will be written out of the episodes that will be filmed while he’s suspended, and his directing role is definitely over, at least for now. (Gibson has directed six episodes of the show.)
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Yikes, right? Obviously, it provokes questions about what’s happening on the set of Criminal Minds and what it might mean for Season 12, which as of now, seems like it might be totally in flux. While we know that Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis) and Adam Rodriguez (SSA Luke Alvez) have signed on as full cast members, and Paget Brewster will be returning for at least some of the season, what can we now expect Gibson’s role to be?
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While Season 12 cast photos seem like they’ve already been taken/are in progress, and Gibson is already in it (fourth from the left in the above photo), there is also this matter of Bill Paxton appearing with some of the cast in a photo from CBS Watch! magazine’s Instagram, a photo Gibson would presumably be in if he were at the event, the CBS CW Showtime Summer TCA Party, which took place in LA yesterday.
At first, it seemed weird that Gibson wasn’t in the group photo, but now that we know the truth about what happened with him on set, it all becomes a little clearer and everything makes so much sense.
There’s always the possibility that a member of the long-time cast could leave the show; after all, Shemar Moore did it this past year, but the actors and their agents probably negotiate that sort of thing way ahead of time. An actor freaking out on set is another matter altogether. Will Gibson’s behavior result in his being asked to leave the show entirely? It’s not hard to imagine that the writers, cast and crew would be a little reticent about working with him after something like that, so who knows what could happen? Regardless, it looks like we can expect to see less of Aaron Hotchner in the early episodes of Season 12.
And what is going on with all these cast shakeups? Is Gibson’s behavior just a symptom of being part of an already stressful situation? Only time will tell since the truth always seems to have a way of sneaking out.
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Should Thomas Gibson be asked to leave Criminal Minds? Would you still watch the show without him? Tell us in the comments!
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