Is Mel Gibson Finished?

[johnnymk]

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/entertainment/gossip/15160104.htm

LOS ANGELES - Despite an apology by Mel Gibson, Hollywood insiders and the star's fans sought more details about his reported anti-Semitic tirade during an arrest for drunken driving and whether sheriff's deputies gave him preferential treatment.

Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, would not elaborate beyond an apology Gibson issued Saturday in which the star admitted he uttered "despicable" things to deputies.

A leaked arrest report quoted Gibson as saying "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asking an arresting officer, James Mee, "Are you a Jew?"

The entertainment Web site TMZ posted the document, which it said was four pages from the original arrest report. Sheriff's officials have declined to comment on Gibson's alleged remarks.

The Office of Independent Review, a department watchdog panel, has opened an investigation into whether authorities tried to cover up Gibson's alleged inflammatory comments, said its chief attorney, Mike Gennaco.

"Assuming that the report was excised, then the question is was it done for a good reason within regulations," he said.

Gibson, a Roman Catholic, has filmed public service announcements for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca's relief committee dressed in a sheriff's uniform.

"There is no cover-up," Baca told the Los Angeles Times. "Trying someone on rumor and innuendo is no way to run an investigation, at least one with integrity."

Gibson was arrested after deputies stopped his 2006 Lexus LS 430 for speeding at 2:36 a.m. Friday. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said deputies clocked him doing 87 mph in a 45 mph zone.

A breath test indicated Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, Whitmore said. The legal limit in California is 0.08 percent.

Gibson posted $5,000 bail and was released hours later.

In his statement, Gibson said he has struggled with alcoholism and had taken steps "to ensure my return to health."

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Gibson's apology "unremorseful and insufficient."

On Sunday, some in Hollywood debated whether Gibson's career could recover from the scandal.

"It's a nuclear disaster for him," said publicist Michael Levine, who has represented Michael Jackson and Charlton Heston, among others. "I don't see how he can restore himself."

But Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, said filmgoers could overlook the alleged ugly comments if a future Gibson film was perceived as worthwhile.

"Usually it comes down to the marketing of the movie and does the average person want to see the film," Dergarabedian said.

Gibson, 50, won a best-director Academy Award for 1995's "Braveheart," and also starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, among others,

In recent years, he has turned his attention to producing films and TV shows through his Icon Productions. His last major starring role was in the 2002 film "Signs." He played a supporting part in the 2003 film, "The Singing Detective," which he also produced.

The hundreds of millions of dollars he made producing the 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" has given the star the ability to finance his own films, giving him a measure of independence from the major studios.

Days before the release of "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, sparked controversy when he told an interviewer that the Holocaust was mostly "fiction."

His next project is "Apocalypto," a movie about the decline of the Mayan empire that is being distributed by The Walt Disney Co.

[Butch]

Let's hope so . . . but he's been finished with me for a while . . . he and Tom Cruise won't add to their fortunes with any of my money . . . then again, neither will Michael Moore . . . I'm equal opportunity ;)

[LegendKiller]

Gibson is on my blacklist from now on, right along with Cruise.

It's pretty sad that people have to think or act this way, because this type of attitude and actions are what causes wars, not one race/religion of people.

[nickel]

Mel...why? :( He is denying these allegations of course, but here (http://cdn.digitalcity.com/tmz_documents/gibson_wm_docs_072806.pdf) is a portion of the police report that was put online by TMZ.com which is owned by CNN/Time Warner.

Their story: http://www.tmz.com/2006/07/28/gibsons-anti-semitic-tirade-alleged-cover-up/

[mcs328]

Well I'm with the rest of you on this. Blacklisted.

[brainsmile]

Who is this guy again?

[Butch]

cnn.com is saying Mel has checked into rehab . . . good for him . . . sounds like he needs it.

[Memo]

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2006/07/gibson_booking_5_375_073106.jpg

He looks totally blitzed

[Sirrich3]

Lets see how this ends up...

[RIVERWIDOW]

Looks like there are a lot of people without sin in this thread. Guess that is why most of you feel the necessity to cast stones.
No way is Mel in the right at any time during this event but you guys are merciless. He is after all human. That doesn't change because he is a star.

[Butch]

Looks like there are a lot of people without sin in this thread. Guess that is why most of you feel the necessity to cast stones.
No way is Mel in the right at any time during this event but you guys are merciless. He is after all human. That doesn't change because he is a star.

You're right, it doesn't change just because he is a star . . . it changes because he is a star who has voluntarily put his personal religious beliefs into the public domain via the creation (and tremendous publicizing) of a movie that is based on his personal beliefs.

Since he's done that, he can't expect privacy when something negative about his beliefs comes out - it was his choice to put them into the public domain originally, and he reaped very handsome rewards for it . . . now he's got a price to pay for it. Tough sh1t.

[Jane83]

man this guy is such a nazi.
he needs to be on hollywoods black list.
spielberg wont be making any calls to him for his next movie

[RoniMan]

well, i'm not condemning him....not yet.

I'd want to find out what exactly was he sorry for. I'm not talking about the content of his apology speech, since that was written for him. I'm talking about what was he REALLy sorry for?

for making antisemitic comments?
for drunk driving?
for getting caught?

[LegendKiller]

Looks like there are a lot of people without sin in this thread. Guess that is why most of you feel the necessity to cast stones.
No way is Mel in the right at any time during this event but you guys are merciless. He is after all human. That doesn't change because he is a star.

Yes, I sin. However, I can tell the difference between sheer disgusting hate and simple sin. He and his father have been spewing anti-Jewish garbage for years. Just as I don't like Nazis, I don't like poeple who identify with them or their beliefs. I will not patron the movie of somebody like him.

Finally, .12 BAC isn't a huge number, if Mel is really a hardcore drinker as he claims to be, then thats about 2-3 beers, if not a bit more, but not much more. He wasn't blasted, so it's not like he was so wasted that his inhibitions were gone.

This is what he really believes and it's nothing but hatred.

[LPMiller]

i suspect mel is one of those guys that doesn't really believe what he said there, but when he drinks, becomes his dad. He sounds screwed up to me. He'll do rehab, make a few speeches, he'll be fine.

[nickel]

i suspect mel is one of those guys that doesn't really believe what he said there, but when he drinks, becomes his dad. He sounds screwed up to me. He'll do rehab, make a few speeches, he'll be fine.
I have the same feelings about this as you. Mel heard these rants from an abusive alcoholic father his whole life and they've involuntarily permeated his subconscious. We all know alcohol brings that all out. I'm not making excuses for him, but there is a reason that the truth serum let those words flow out of him.

Only thing is. . . I think this is going to follow him for the rest of his life. I think he will get back to making movies, but his anti-Jewish sentiment will be the first thing on people's minds when they hear he's made another movie. It won't completely not hurt him.

[ArkiStan]

He might as well go through rehab in Israel, another source of front-page breaking news.

[LegendKiller]

i suspect mel is one of those guys that doesn't really believe what he said there, but when he drinks, becomes his dad. He sounds screwed up to me. He'll do rehab, make a few speeches, he'll be fine.

I might agree with you if...

1. There was less anti-jewish slant in Passion

2. His BAC was more than it actually was

3. He and his father hadn't said anti-jewish remarks WELL before this while being sober

4. He had checked in to anything other than a day rehab clinic. He goes home every night, so it's not even going to work well.

[RIVERWIDOW]

You're right, it doesn't change just because he is a star . . . it changes because he is a star who has voluntarily put his personal religious beliefs into the public domain via the creation (and tremendous publicizing) of a movie that is based on his personal beliefs.

Since he's done that, he can't expect privacy when something negative about his beliefs comes out - it was his choice to put them into the public domain originally, and he reaped very handsome rewards for it . . . now he's got a price to pay for it. Tough sh1t.

Right and I dont expect him to avoid all the crap that will follow. What I was saying is most of the posts were cut and dried "He's a jerk forget him" type. I was just saying how about a little compassion. Just because he has a kazillion dollars doesn't mean we cant feel for the guy. EVEN though he brought the whole thing down on himself. I lived with an alcoholic father for 25 years until he started AA. So I guess maybe I have a little more compassion than the average person. My husband says it is my naiveness coming out. But I really like to give people the benefit of the doubt before I totally blow them off.
Mel Gibson lives in a world most of us will never experience but it is his childhood that shaped him into the man he is today. If you listened to the crap that I think he had to listen to most of his life, maybe you would be sprouting the same crap when you get drunk. You know the whole walk a mile .......thing.

[DarkFury]

/me waits for Obby to get to this thread and smite all of you who now don't believe in Mel. :D

[WhiskeyPapa]

I think this was more than a drunken outburst. I think it was a full-out mental breakdown.

Anyway, he's just a guy that makes movies. I wouldn't expect the guy who cleans the toilets in our office building to get fired for this. In my mind, they're just two guys who do a job. I'm sure I could still be entertained by Mel's movies.

[Markel]

What's kind of interesting is the difference between the attitude of the Jewish cop that stopped Gibson, and the issue-frenzied media.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy James Mee, who is Jewish, said that he considered it a routine arrest and did not take any comments made by Gibson seriously. ... "That stuff is booze talking," the deputy said in an interview outside his home. "There's two things that booze does. It amplifies your basic personality. If you are a laid-back kind of person, just an easy going kind of person, booze is going to amplify that and you'll be just sitting around going how it's a wonderful day.

"But, if you are high-strung person, it's going to amplify that and all the bad things are going to come out."
Link to full story (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/01/entertainment/main1853416.shtml)

[LPMiller]

I might agree with you if...

1. There was less anti-jewish slant in Passion

2. His BAC was more than it actually was

3. He and his father hadn't said anti-jewish remarks WELL before this while being sober

4. He had checked in to anything other than a day rehab clinic. He goes home every night, so it's not even going to work well.


yeah well, having some experience with it, I'd have to say I'm still going with the screwed up head and abusive father.

[nickel]

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2006/07/gibson_booking_5_375_073106.jpg

He looks totally blitzed
reminds me of DeLay's mugshot. i am sure Mel was at least in the state of mind to make sure he didn't pull a Nick Nolte.

http://www.thatsweird.net/mugshots/nick_nolte.jpg

Mel doesn't look 1/2 bad in that shot actually.

[nickel]

this is from Drudge, but may be legit. Gibson's formal apology:


MEL SAYS SORRY TO THE JEWS
Tue Aug 01 2006 11:10:45 ET

August 2, 2006 -- There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.

I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.

The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It’s about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad.

END

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3.htm

[Markel]

this is from Drudge, but may be legit.
The same quotes are in the (CBS) story I link a few replies back.

[LegendKiller]

yeah well, having some experience with it, I'd have to say I'm still going with the screwed up head and abusive father.

My life wasn't gilded either and I had to deal with some of the same things. However, the past isn't a perfect predictor of the future, both my brother and sister are evidence of that, along with me. Just as I identify with some of the problems, I also hate it when people use it as a scapegoat mechanism.

[LPMiller]

i'm not declaring it a scapegoat or an excuse, I'm declaring it a <i>reason</i>. I ain't talking about 'having to deal with it' I'm talking about having a long line of drinkers on both sides of the family, of spending a few years in support groups counsoling, and being well versed in the art of the drunk. People who drink spout all sorts of crap, almost always the same stuff they grew up with, and a lot of the times that realization leads them to recovery.

It does not excuse what he said. It might explain it.

[InfiniteNothing]

The same quotes are in the (CBS) story I link a few replies back.
Mel has one good PR guy.

[Markel]

Mel has one good PR guy.
It's more likely the media feeding frenzy. (where's that pirana smilie?)

[johnnymk]

It's more likely the media feeding frenzy. (where's that pirana smilie?)

You want a piranha, I'll give you a piranha

http://uploads.filecabin.com/pictures/scary_hillary.jpg

[MikeD]

Ehh, I think Mel got framed. He doesn't look too snookered in these shots.

Love the second one! :hehehmm:


http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/01/gibson.dui/story.gibson.itw.jpg


http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/01/gibson.dui/story.gibson1.itw.jpg


http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/01/gibson.dui/story.gibson2.itw.jpg


http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/01/gibson.dui/story.gibson3.itw.jpg

[ShawnLee]

Eh, he'll be fine. America loves to forgive. I swear, if Osama had a big-city PR machine and could spin it properly to blame George Bush, we'd end up forgiving him too.

No worries for Mel Gibson. It's not even jail-time. It's gonna be some letters of apology (already written), some community service (probably at a synagogue, or maybe doing voiceovers for the Museum of Tolerance), and some money out of his pocket, and bada-bing-bada-boom, he's good.

Edit: I'm surprised the feminist lobby isn't all over him for calling the chick cop "sugartits" (methinks it's because he's still good looking enough not to offend the women).
It'll be hilarious though, if I get grilled for calling the female sheriff's deputy a chick cop.
I'm just not as good looking as Mel, I guess.

[Houdini]

I think this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. The guy is an admitted alchoholic. That's a disease, and is treatable, even in outpatient settings. So it may actually work.

As I understand it and have read, Gibson has stated that his dad didn't deny the Holocaust, but was just hung up on the numbers. First it was 50 mil. Then 20 mil. Then 6 mil. He saw it as a numbers game. Compared to other holocausts in other countries (Russia under Stalin, Cuba under Castro, etc.,) the European Holocaust was relatively mild. And it didn't just target Jews. It targeted Catholics, gypsies, gays, those with mental illnesses, etc. It was horrific to say the least. Does that mean that his father hated Jews? I dunno.

But we're talking about Mel here, not his dad. Mel evidently made some really nasty comments directed toward Jews, himself, a female officer, etc. He was blasted on alcohol - a relapse. If I'm ever that drunk, I'll probably say or do some things I'll regret and didn't mean to say/do later.

We don't know the whole story. We haven't seen the police tape. We don't know the guy, but his friends have stated that he has become more depressed and suicidal recently, and this latest binge may have been an attempt. Who knows. But to blast him or blacklist him for something he said in a drunken stupor seems a little intolerant to say the least.

Finally, the issue being raised recently is a line about "blood on our hands and those of our children" in the Passion movie. He removed it. Some say it's still there but in Aramaic. Does that make the movie anti-Semitic? Not anymore than the New Testament is, as that line from Matthew is, well, still in the Bible, on which the movie was based. The movie portrays Christ as a convicted blasphemor, and, having seen it again recently, I believe that the crowds yelling about crucifying him represent all of humanity, not just any particular group (Jews or whomever.) There wasn't an anti-Semitic thing in the movie that I can recall.

The ironic thing is that a major network pulled out of a deal for a major mini-series about the horrors of the Holocaust - directed by Gibson. If anything, it would have shown, through his directing and inherent artistic flavor, his true feelings about Judaism.

So yeah, I'm not willing to blacklist him or hate him or even protest against the guy. He said stupid stuff. So have I. Even sober. He's hypersensitive to the euphoric effect of alcohol. And he has recanted and apologized twice so far, stating that he didn't believe any of the stuff he said. And some rabbis in CA are with him and some are against him.

-H

[johnnymk]

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/15231791.htm

County refuses to release Gibson tapes

LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Audio and video tapes of Mel Gibson's drunken driving arrest are exempt from the California Public Records Act and won't be released, authorities said, despite requests from a celebrity news Web site.

The Web site, TMZ, had asked Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca for tapes of the incident in which Gibson uttered obscenity-laced, anti-Semitic comments. TMZ argued the tapes should be seen and heard by the public to assess whether Gibson received preferential treatment from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

"The records you have requested are records of the investigation and part of the investigatory file in this matter," replied Gary P. Gross, principal deputy for the county counsel's office. That means they must remain sealed, Gross said.

Gibson was arrested early July 28 after he was stopped for driving 87 mph in a 45-mph zone. He was released on his own recognizance later that day.

The 50-year-old actor-director, charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and having an open container of alcohol in his car, is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 28.

Questions have been raised about the fact that a Sheriff's Department spokesman initially said Gibson had been arrested "without incident" and made no mention of what Gibson himself latter called his "belligerent" and "despicable" behavior.

The arresting deputy's initial written report, which contained Gibson's statements, was also ordered modified and the comments placed in a supplemental report.

No decision has been made on whether to pursue further legal action, the Web site's attorney, Alonzo Wickers IV, said Tuesday.

Harvey Levin, who runs TMZ, said he would wait to see "how the case plays out."

"It could go to trial, and if it does, the tapes would become evidence," he said.

Meanwhile, California's Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, Tom McClintock, said he no longer will use a fundraising letter sent on his behalf by Gibson.

McClintock decided to pull the letter after the incident, his campaign spokesman, Stan Devereaux, said Tuesday.

"Tom saw the news and the situation as it was unfolding with Mel Gibson and made a conscious decision to direct people not to use the letter any further. He was disillusioned by the situation with Mr. Gibson," Devereaux said.