tl dr - Eu acredito que você poderia considerar isso parcialmente correto.
No Artigo da Wikipédia da 7ª Temporada , ele afirma:
Before the season aired, David Duchovny filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox. Duchovny was upset because, he claimed, that Fox had undersold the rights to its own affiliates, thereby costing him huge sums of money. Originally, in the contract, Duchovny was eligible for an estimated five percent, but, according to him, he "had seen only a fraction" of the money. Eventually, the lawsuit was settled, and Duchovny was awarded a settlement of about $20 million. The lawsuit put strain on Duchovny's professional relationships. Although his lawsuit never called Chris Carter a defendant, their friendship was notably impacted. One anonymous source noted that "the whole lawsuit thing revealed that Carter knew (Duchovny) was getting screwed and didn't warn him. Carter proved where his loyalties lay with his actions."
De acordo com a BBC :
Duchovny had only appeared in a handful of episodes of the current series after a legal battle with the network over payment.
NOTA: O termo " a série atual " refere-se à 8ª temporada.
Nesta nota em um site baseado em fãs :
Parece que após o processo, Duchovny foi (de acordo com o comunicado de imprensa oficial) que vai prosseguir atuando em diferentes papéis para sair de ser tipificado como o "cara perseguindo alienígenas". Devido a isso, ele fez um acordo com a FBC para ter menos episódios durante a temporada 8. Somando tudo isso, só pode levar alguém a acreditar que o enredo foi derivado do rescaldo da ação e não originalmente deveria ocorrer dessa forma.As previously suggested by the actor himself, Fox is currently said to be negotiating with Duchovny to return to the series for far fewer episodes, possible 6-9 for the whole season, in a deal which the trade says will involve "big bucks."