Gibson breaks his silence

It took a minute to ruin my reputation, says fired ‘Criminal Minds’ star

AFTER being fired from Criminal Minds following an on-set altercation with a producer, Thomas Gibson (pic) is offering his side of the story.

“I feel like it took years to make a good reputation and a minute to damage it,” the actor told People magazine in an interview published on Thursday.

On the CBS show, Gibson played Aaron Hotchner in the series since it first aired in September 2005.

Gibson said he approached writer-producer Virgil Williams about a line that he thought didn't quite fit and the response he received was not one welcoming to criticism.

“We were shooting a scene late one night when I went to Virgil and told him there was a line that I thought contradicted an earlier line,” Gibson said.

“He said, ‘Sorry, it’s necessary and I absolutely have to have it.’”

Gibson, upset, went back to his colleagues and told them about the encounter. While doing so, Williams burst into the room and walked directly toward Gibson.

“He came into that room and started coming towards me. As he brushed past me, my foot came up and tapped him on the leg,” Gibson recalls.

“If I hadn’t moved, he would have run into me. We had some choice words, for which I apologised the next day, and that was it. We shot the scene, I went home – and I never got to go back.”

There is speculation regarding Gibsons’ claims considering his violent past with other members of the production that resulted in him being sent to anger management classes.

Initially Gibson was let go for two weeks, but he was later officially “dismissed” from the show. He will appear in the first two episodes of season 12, but “creative details for how the character’s exit will be addressed in the show will be announced at a later date,” according to a statement from CBS Television Studios.

For now, Gibson says he is considering comedy, theatre, directing or producing.

Season 12 of Criminal Minds premieres on Sept 28. — Reuters