‘NCIS’: The Drama Between Mark Harmon and Pauley Perrette Isn’t About Him — It’s About a Dog Bite

NCIS is far and away one of the most popular shows on television right now, and Mark Harmon is the undeniable star of the series. His portrayal of special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is legendary, earning him national recognition and fame.

For a long time, the most dramatic thing about NCIS—besides the action playing out on screen—was trying to figure out which characters were being written off the show. But now former cast member Pauley Perrette has fans buzzing with a series of bizarre tweets that accuse her former co-worker Mark Harmon of “physical assault.” What exactly is going on?

Though details are vague, multiple sources have helped piece together the details of the story.

Pauley Perrette hasn’t appeared on ‘NCIS’ for years

No one knew the exact reason that Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto) decided to leave NCIS after 15 seasons. But now her tweets are bringing the real situation to light. On social media, Perrette admitted to being “terrified” of her former co-star Mark Harmon.

Fed up with fans asking when she’d return to the show, Perrette tweeted that she had “nightmares about him [Harmon] attacking me.” Later, she said “You think I didn’t expect blow back? You got me wrong. THIS happened To my crew member and I fought like hell to keep it from happening again! To protect my crew!”

She continued: “And then I was physically assaulted for saying NO!? and I lost my job.”

The whole incident has to do with Mark Harmon’s dog

What happened to make Perrette so upset? It has to do with a time Mark Harmon brought his dog to work in 2016.

Allegedly, a crew member was playing with the dog on set and the animal bit him. The bite was bad enough that the injury required 15 stitches. After it happened, Harmon continued bringing the dog even though it made people uncomfortable.

Sources claim that even though no one wanted the dog around anymore, everyone was afraid to confront Mark Harmon about it since he’s not only the lead, but also an executive producer on the show. Finally, Pauley Perrette spoke up and received retaliation for doing so.

Harmon and Perrette never worked together again

After the incident and aftermath, Agent Gibbs and Abby Sciuto never filmed at the same location together again. “She did her scenes on one day and he did his work on other days, and they still produced a great show,” a source explained. “It was simply scheduled that they did not work the same days.”

A source claims that Perrette had already decided to leave the show before the dog bite incident.

Did Mark Harmon physically assault Pauley Perrette?

While the whole strange situation is steeped in secrecy, but with so much attention there’s a good chance more details will be revealed in the coming weeks. The latest rumors hold that Mark Harmon may have body-checked Pauley Perrette in retaliation for speaking ill of his dog.

CBS’s official statement says: “Pauley Perrette had a terrific run on N.C.I.S. and we are all going to miss her. Over a year ago, Pauley came to us with a workplace concern. We took the matter seriously and worked with her to find a resolution. We are committed to a safe work environment on all our shows.”