CBS Thomas Gibson might be considering legal action against his former television series Criminal Minds.
Following an on-set altercation with a producer, the CBS series' original cast member was fired from his starring role on Friday. As a result, Gibson has hired Los Angeles-based Skip Miller's law firm, Miller Barondess, to pursue the case, E! News can confirm.
Gibson, 54, has played fan-favorite Aaron Hotchner since the show debuted in 2005, and was suspended in July after kicking a writer over "creative differences" while working on an episode he was directing. He had not been on set for the last two weeks.
"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," Gibson said in a statement following his termination. "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."
shemar just posted this on ig with the caption "karma is real" ?????? no shade just tea! pic.twitter.com/7ufsJ6WmOE
— sof (@davdboreanaz) August 12, 2016
As news broke of Gibson's departure on Friday, co-star Shemar Moore took to Instagram with a since-deleted message that had many speculating its connection to Gibson.
Though Moore never addresses Gibson by name, the 46-year-old tells the camera, "Lot of birdies chirping out there—the gossip is real. I hear it, I see it. I'm sure a lot of you do too, so I'll just say this: I believe in karma. Good things happen to good people. Honest people. Hard-working people. Humble people. People who believe in basic goodness."
He continues, "Good things will happen to you. Treat people how you expect them to treat you. Celebrate yourself and celebrate your blessings, as you should, but just know that you're not better than anybody."
Shemar was recently embroiled in his own legal feud against Criminal Minds guest actor, Keith Tisdell. E! News confirmed Moore's claim that Tisdell owed him approximately $60,000 and subsequent demnds that his former colleague and friend repay him. The two reached an agreement during Friday's hearing, which stipulated that Tisdell would repay the actor a total of $61,084 in an effort to avoid having to serve any jail time.