Mel Gibson got invited to Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic over the holiday weekend. He attended the 49th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and he picked up the Lifetime Achievement Award, because I guess the film festival was really, really desperate for someone, anyone to show up. I was going to ignore these photos, mostly because whenever I see photos of Mel Gibson these days, I can’t help but imagine a thought bubble above his head with his inner monologue: “Are you a Jew? Why do these Jews want to shake my hand? Is this trophy Jewish? Is this all some sort of Jewish conspiracy?” So, yes, I was going to ignore the pics but then The Hollywood Reporter published this interview with Mel and I couldn’t help myself. You guys, he’s TOTALLY changed. Totally.
THR: Gary Oldman revived discussion of your controversial comments and often strained relationship with Hollywood. Do you think you’ve resolved those issues?
MG: It’s behind me; it’s an 8-year-old story. It keeps coming up like a rerun, but I’ve dealt with it and I’ve dealt with it responsibly and I’ve worked on myself for anything I am culpable for. All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times, so for this question to keep coming up, it’s kind of like … I’m sorry they feel that way, but I’ve done what I need to do.THR: You’ve played a wide range of roles as an actor and made movies as a director with difficult themes, like Apocalypto and The Passion of the Christ. What do you want to do now?
MG: It’s tricky, those films you refer to, nobody would have financed them, they more or less worked, but I would never have got anyone else to finance them. I’m out of that business of financing my own films because they see you coming and take you for a ride. I’m not a fool. It’s difficult for the things I deem worthy to direct, where you can get a really good compelling story out of — nobody else has much faith in it and never did.THR: Is there anything specific you can talk about now?
MG: There are specific things, but I don’t want to talk about them, you know why? Because every time I do somebody else goes and does it. It’s a kind of industrial espionage thing and they do it badly for TV.
Oh my God, I could parse his first answer all friggin’ day. Shall we? “It’s behind me; it’s an 8-year-old story. It keeps coming up like a rerun, but I’ve dealt with it and I’ve dealt with it responsibly….” Has he “dealt” with “it”? And why does no one remember that the anti-Semitic stuff wasn’t the only terrible crap that went down? Why does no one ever discuss his plea deal for violently assaulting his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, and how he stalked her and screamed at her all the time while they were together? And in those phone calls, he said tons of racist crap. Next: “I’ve worked on myself for anything I am culpable for…” That suggests that there’s part of the situation that Mel is NOT culpable for, at least in his own mind.
“All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times…” Really? No, I think he apologized a couple of times for the 2006 arrest, but beyond that… no, he really didn’t apologize “copious times.” And lastly…“I’m sorry they feel that way, but I’ve done what I need to do…” Who is “they”? “They” are Jewish people, right?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
What a bitter, nasty, violent man Mel Gibson has become. I can’t imagine being his wife/girlfriend or having him for a father. Gross
So gross.
Definitively very gross.
And abusers never feel guilty, usually. Mel confirming what we thought.. As if we needed that… Again….
He’s one of the few celebrities that I despise with every fiber of my being.
I have a feeling that his “mea culpas” involved a lot of Church confessions and prayers with no real apologies issued to the people he hurt.
His “I’ve already apologized” shtick sounds just like Chris Brown! Speaking of abusers…
yup…and every time I see a picture of this guy, all I see are the crazy eyes (no offense to the AWESOME OITNB character). and knowing that there IS crazy behind them, and what kind of crazy it is, is a bit scary.
and I don’t care how much he apologizes, HE STILL FEELS THAT WAY. his attitude and beliefs haven’t changed, regardless of how many mea culpas he issues.
I think that is a big part of his problem*, because his “crazy eyes” were part of his appeal. He had the intensity that was unpredictable, and it is what made him a star in Lethal Weapon. It is what made women think he would be exciting in bed. Now, those crazy eyes just remind us that, as you said, it is REAL crazy in there.
He kind of ruined his best feature.
* other than being a violent bigot
Mel seems like a half way decent father. I have yet to hear one story about any of his kids being in trouble. None of them have been arrested to my knowledge like Phil Collins’ son or walking around topless like Bruce Willis’ daughter.
Really? I remember reading an article seven or eight years ago about what terrors his kids were in their Malibu neighborhood. There was something specific about them just going into local surf shops and helping themselves to whatever they wanted, knowing daddy would just throw money at whoever complained. It was pretty ugly, if not widely public.
Oh they have. You just don’t hear about it.
“(Gibson’s) kids have battled alcohol and drug problems, much like their father. According to MX, a free daily paper in Melbourne, Australia, Milo was expelled from school when he was 12 for smoking pot (William was kicked out for a similar offense). In 2006, Christian was arrested for drunk-driving while he was a student at the University of Colorado. In 2007, the National Enquirer reported that Edward, who at one point was cozy with Britney Spears, checked into rehab. And the twins used to associate with the “MLO” (Malibu Locals Only), a gang known for picking fights with Valley kids and spray-painting graffiti.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/07/18/mel-gibsons-wild-kids.html
I stand corrected.
@kitten: are you from Melbourne?
Whoa, dang. You just dropped a lot of knowledge on us. It’s one of moments which has one thinking, ‘It never occurred to me to Carr’s when you learn stuff.
He was so pretty in his youth (see Mad Max) but in this case it seems like the outside is matching the inside as he ages. Anyone that subscribes to dogma like Mel does will eventually become hardened and yuck. Any political/religious dogma will do.
Happily no one is asking him to adopt you.
Look, no one seems to have a problem with Mike Tyson. That Hangover dude vetoed Mel’s appearance in The Hangover 2. So basically if you speak badly about Jews that’s worse that raping someone?
These pc rules don’t make sense. But it def seems that sex crimes are taken waaay less seriously that simply saying mean things.
Are we sure his wife wasn’t cheating on him or flirting with someone else, just like jay-z or evan peters did with their partners? H e might have been defending himself?
Ha. I’m pretty sure he’s just a raging asshole.
+1000! He is definitely a asshole! And he looks terrible what’s up with his face?
Is he for real?! My god, once the mask slips like that people don’t forget. There is so much rage in him, god help the next target, cause there will be one. Ugh, dark, dark soul.
Agree Ellie66. His face is like Dorian Grey – reflecting his inner ugliness. Looks like a lot of sun, cigs and alcohol damage.
So he might have had an excuse for abusing/stalking his girlfriend? Gee, I feel terrible for not considering that! Poor Mel!
How do you think the antisemitism fits into your narrative?
They were asking for it by being Jewish?
Well, I laughed at it. Because it’s a pretty great example of how crappy all those comments were on here when Solange assaulted Jay-Z. People were bending over freaking backwards to defend her because Jay-Z must have cheated so she was just defending her sister…yada yada.
Yes, Mark, most of the women who are are victims of domestic violence, the ones, you know that are beaten every 15 seconds in this country by their significant other, deserve it because they cheated or talked back or burned the dinner. The abusers are just defending themselves. Thank you for pointing that out.
@goodNames: im sure it was a sarcastic joke about all the replies to the Solange/Jay Z incident. a woman kicking her brother in law with high heels wasnt seen as problemtatic and lots of people blamed Jay.
we have a long way to go to see that men are victims, too and women are abusers, too. read upon recent statistics, its pretty equal, only that the support system is almost exclusive to women and men face bigger problems when they speak about being abused, being ridiculed for “not being a man” or like Jay Z, being blamed for someone else violence.
I’d like to see some cutting and pasting of the comments in that thread, where people said that it was Jay Z’s fault and he was asking for it. I’m not being sarcastic at all–I honestly didn’t see one comment where people said he asked for it.
Literally every comment I read said that Solange was wrong to assault Jay Z.
I might have missed it though…or maybe you’re talking about other celeb gossip forums?
@Sarah
I agree with OKitten that most comments were ripping Solange apart. I didn’t see anyone excusing her behavior because of Jay Z’s actions.
Also, I have read many posts by Mark, and he may have been kidding, or he may not.
@TheOriginalKitten: There are 6-7 articles here covering that assault and the aftermath. Every single one of them has multiple comments defending Solange or discussing what Jay-Z must have done to set her off. I don’t know how you are not remembering the hundreds of comments defending her. It would be a full-days work for people to copy/paste those comments here for you. Honestly, I’m disappointed to see people acting like that didn’t happen.
Yeah no. Not in this forum. I’ve been present on all those threads and in the comments people were OVERHWELMINGLY appalled at Solange’s behavior.
Maybe three comments on each thread where people said she wasn’t at fault.
Anyway, this post isn’t about Solange so why is she being brought up? To distract perhaps?
Look, Solange assaulting Jay Z isn’t going to suddenly make Gibson seem like a better person. I mean, if that’s the angle you’re shooting for…
I mean, you can say that all you want but the evidence is there. I don’t really get the point of denying it. As for me, I’m specifically commenting on the irony of reactions with that particular comment up above. Has nothing to do with Mel Gibson specifically. I think he’s trash.
Yeah the “irony” is that men and women alike have been using the “she asked for it!” excuse to justify rape, abuse and violence against women for centuries.
But let’s ignore all that and save our sympathy for the male rapper who was assaulted by a famous lady in an elevator.
@OKitt, Girl, if you don’t really care about male victims of assault then just be out with it, but all of this selective reading–when you know dang well,= there are boatloads of comments defending Solange–is getting really tacky and boring. And the ‘well people do it to women!’ excuse is just pathetic and unnecessary. I can sit here and tell you loads of stories about the abuse and victim-blaming my mother and best friends endured, but you’ll never hear me using that to justify, minimize, or lessen the assault of a person just because they happen to have a penis. Grow. *Up*.
@Sarah:I don’t know where you’re getting your statistics, as that is totally incorrect. 9 out of 10 victims of domestic violence are women. Men *can* be, but they’re usually not. They are thr vast majority of the time the perpetrators of the crime.
Trolls gonna troll.
Someday I’ll learn that.
Yup Mark is an expert at the trollage.
Because white men are mad oppressed too y’all!
Don’t fuck with the Original Kitten! (actually, please continue to do so. Enjoying watching TOK serve it up is one of the reasons I come here regularly…)
The screen writer must have been cheating on him too.
First let me say I am in no way defending Mel’s actions or words.
The screenwriter knew Mel was already in trouble and knew how to provoke him. He had a recording device at the ready. Monday morning quarterbacking here but Mel should have fired him long before that. The guy was way past due on delivering the screenplay.
Oksana? No excuse ever for hitting anyone. These old guys need to understand that pretty young girls do not love them for themselves. Don’t give yourself a problem and then be angry about it.
He’s a crazy drunk but entitled to his beliefs however disgusting.
Look, provoking Gibson didn’t take anything. A gentle breeze would set him off. If I had to withstand the type of behavior that Gibson was exhibiting, which was abusive, unprofessional and insane, I would be recording it too, for proof. Berating a collaborator in the manner that he did is unjustified under any circumstances, unless that person shot your dog or murdered your family. Hire someone else, fire the person, it’s that easy. You don’t get a pass.
I agree that Oksana was probably looking for a sugar daddy, but again, he thought he could buy her obedience and when that didn’t work, he thought he could beat her into submission verbally and physically. Just because she is unlikeable, doesn’t make her less of a victim.
He can believe in whatever or behave any way he chooses, provided he doesn’t break laws. And people can dislike him for the same. No one owes him love, respect or work. That is not a given entitlement.
Oh come one.
Some people are more touchy than others. Either you can adapt to that or you shouldn’t work with them. Simples.
I mean this: does a provocateur have the right to expect his victim to be able to stand a certain amount of provocation? Can I expect anybody to not hit me when I start calling them names? The law says: The provocateur / attacker / aggressor can not expect his victim to be healthy or to be able to sustain a certain amount of provocation / attack / aggression. If you hit somebody and that person drops dead from your hit you are in for murder. And any filthy excuses like “I could have expected him to take such a hit” are just crap. You mustn’t hit or provoke people and expect to get away with this.
Don’t go out and provoke people who are easily provoked. And don’t complain if they hit back. Being patient with kids and old people and with mentally handicapped people can be regarded as “normal” nowadays. So one should have some patience with people in difficult circumstances as well – apparently Gibson was there then.
Be peaceful and defensive – just like when you are driving your car.
If that guy brougth a taping device and if the guy knew Gibson was provoked easily and if he taped from the start of that conversation then I would suggest that the guy trapped and deceived Gibson.
Nice trolling.
@kitten: depends on the socio-economic status of the white man in question.
That would be considered “disadvantaged” not oppressed.
Please also understand I made the comment with a bit of tongue-and-cheek for snark’s sake.
I don’t want to take the focus off of the subject of this post, which is Gibson’s abhorrent behavior.
I guess if it was for the sake of snark it’s OK then.
That is what hatred does to you.
How could I ever have thought he was attractive?
I think you’re right there. The ugliness inside is making it’s way out. Still, he was pretty in the original Mad Max, don’t beat yourself too badly.
He was VERY pretty in the original Mad Max. The inside hate & ugly eventually seeps out. Much better to be pretty on the inside.
Oh yes, he was ever so hot then. I have to say, I look forward to seeing Hardy take the role next.
Syko
Same here 🙁
Same here. He was so good looking at one time…………talking about getting the face you deserve! All of the plastic surgery in the world will never remove the years of hate built up on his face.
The older he gets the more he looks like Sid James from the Carry On films (non Brit/Aussie readers please ignore me at this point!) only without the humour…
OMG you’re right!!!! Now all he needs is the laugh… *shudder*
I feel awful that I cried over him in Braveheart. Wasted tears! 😉
Nope. It’s the harsh Australian sun. He grew up in the era where everyone sunbathed all year round. These days it’s different but there are a lot of people his age in Oz who look just as bad.
I first fell in love with Mel Gibson when I saw him in the movie”The Year of Living Dangerously,” with the amazing Linda Hunt. What happened to that guy? Alcohol, or was this closetted racist always lurking beneath the surface? This man lacks self awareness.SMH.
i don’t know what his problem is but i remember reading an interview with susan sarandon about 20 years ago (god, that makes me feel old) and she quite explicitly said he was a horrible person. i can’t remember the exact quote but something like “only beautiful on the outside.”
She was right. This is the quote, just found it…”Mel Gibson is somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun. He’s beautiful, but only on the outside.”
Wow, I’d never heard or seen that (and I could have, I’m old enough to have been reading Sarandon interviews 20 years ago too). That would have stuck with me and I wouldn’t have been so surprised when he imploded.
I am quite old too and never read that, ouch… See, sometimes we are blinded by somebody’s looks and we never acknowledge this kind of ‘red flags’… we should have known better about Mel, 20 years ago….
@Lady Macbeth, it wasn’t just his looks. He was so funny and charming. People loved him. It’s hard to remember, but I remember my mother loving him because of his great interviews on late night shows and was so gorgeous but also that self-deprecating humor he was so famous for. It’s hard to remember that Mel.
I think maybe some people were blinded by his looks as Lady MacBeth said. Honestly, I remember hearing and reading interviews with Mel Gibson in the early 90s in which he said some incredibly offensive things about homosexuals.
Primetime interview with Diane Sawyer, February 2004.[4]
“They take it up the ass. [pointing at his posterior] This is only for taking a shit.”
Discussing homosexuals in an interview with El Pais magazine, December 1991.
“I became an actor despite that. But with this look, who’s going to think I’m gay? It would be hard to take me for someone like that. Do I sound like a homosexual? Do I talk like them? Do I move like them?”
TBH, he’s always been a racist, misogynistic homophobe.
Oh sorry, I forgot to add anti-Semitic.
Well, at least he’s an equal offender right? Glad none of us have to feel left out.
Yeah, and I REALLY respected Susan Sarandon for that, because at that time, Mel Gibson was a very powerful man in Hollywood, and there’d been zilch bad publicity. it was so funny, she just flat out said what she felt!
Sorry I forgot this gem:
“I’ll apologize when hell freezes over. They can f-ck off.” —to Playboy in 1995, about whether he’d issue an apology to gays and lesbians, as GLAAD recommended.
@ Tok
You posted a ton of gems!!
I don’t think anybody ever felt left out, Mel had something horrible to say about everyone!
A festival of prejudice, yay! Racist, homophobe, religious zealout, antisemitic, is there anything else we could include?
This is priceless…a compilation of his quotes:
http://gawker.com/5582644/all-the-terrible-things-mel-gibson-has-said-on-the-record
Good point, Nikki, that was brave of Susan to say that. I love her so much.
“All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times…”
Yeah, I don’t think you get to decide that, Mel.
Isn’t that what abusers always say?
Yep!
What do you want to do? Burn him at the stake?
The people who can’t move on with their lives have worse problems than he does.
A real mea culpa would include being genuinely sorry for the pain caused and changing thought patterns as well as outward behaviors. He appears to have done neither. He’s not sorry he said it; he’s sorry he got caught.
I don’t think anyone’s lives have stopped because they recognize an abusive bigot when they see one. Not liking an actor isn’t exactly a life changing event.
I think he is the one with the bigger problems…he needs to figure out how to live his life in a world with women, people of jewish faith, and homosexuals. That will be very trying for him, we aren’t going away.
Tang
I had thought of that but then I thought what a waste of logs, I could use them for my fire instead of incinerating a complete idiot, angry bigot and so on.
His problem is that we’re not forgetting, it seems he is the one who’s not moving on, in any direction….
I wouldn’t bother burning him at the stake. Watching him become bitter and irrelevant is much more rewarding.
I’m with you, Tang. What Mel SAID was horrible, but so is everything everyone here is saying about him.
I’ll never underdstand why someone like Mel or Charlie sheen, don’t just take their gazillion’s of dollars and retire…why can’t they accept the fact that their career is over and just go away..
Exactly. He got exposed as a terrible person and has never done anything to change peoples opinions. He’s never going to reclaim what he once had. So just…go away!
Because the always want more money. The guy with 3 million wants 10. The guy with $50M wants $100M. The guy with $100M wants a billion.
Because he has talent and needs an outlet? I could care less about his personal life. We’ve only seen bits and pieces that are rag worthy and don’t know the whole story. I’m not defending bad behaviour but not judging based on sensasionalized tabloid gossip either. I only care about his work and he’s done some great films.
Right, but he could make films independently for that. People do pet projects all the time. You don’t need to sell something in order to have an outlet. From his statements above, talking about financing his own projects, it doesn’t sound like he cares about an “outlet” enough to finance his own projects anymore.
Additionally, his abusive behavior doesn’t stay in his personal life. There are a lot stories, some with evidence, that he also carries this behavior onto the set with him. He screams at screenwriters, child actors, adult actors, etc. If you judge him soley on his work, you’ve got to include that as well.
My goodness he’s changed a lot hasn’t he?? Appearance-wise, I mean. If his name wasn’t in the title I’d have thought I was looking at somebody else
+1
He sure has. He was this gorgeous guy in The Year of Living Dangerously, hottest car kissing scene ever with Sigourney Weaver. Look how bad years of boozing will treat your face. Like the Picture of Dorian Gray fer crissakes! And his comments about apologies?? Classic sociopath. Always referencing himself, not his effect on others. God how pathetically sad.
There are so many to choose from but my favorite Mel Gibson rant has to be where he terrifies Joe Eszterhas’ family (including Joe’s 15 year old son, who taped it) with his psychotic, obscenity-filled screaming. What does he possibly have to be so damn angry about? I think it’s a booze problem.
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/transcript-mel-gibson-rant-joe-eszterhas-37108/
or listen to it if you dare (yikes!!!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEAO9j4MWH4
Not a booze problem, a “terrible person” problem.
There’s no 12-step program for that, unfortunately.
Yes, I totally agree but I’ll bet the boozing makes him even more nasty than his usual, awful self.
He’s just aged naturally and not had anything done. He’s almost 60.
He could possibly lay off the tanning, he’s looking a little like whatshisface…. I want to say George Hamilton?
Yes! George Hamilton, the poor-man’s Warren Beatty… Though I think about 80% of men in Hollywood end up looking like that!
I’m not a Gibson apologist (I know that’s a bad start to my comment!) but I see his POV. HE thinks he’s done enough. HE thinks he’s apologized enough…. I imagine him thinking “for the Jew thing”. That’s all he thinks he needed to apologize for. The stuff with his girlfriend/mother of his child, well! She was his girlfriend, all that stuff was private. Can’t a guy have a rant at his girlfriend? Especially one who drove him to it? No, he doesn’t feel the need to publicly apologize to her. So yeah, apologies are over with.
No one’s still expecting him to still apologize, right? I’m not. I’m just expecting him to not be there anymore. When he is I’m a little surprised. Also surprised that he’s surprised that his troubling behavior is – while not still a ‘thing’ – is still in the minds of people when they see him.
Bingo. I agree. And the fallout to his career is what it is, but I don’t need him rehashing all of this with phoney BS lines. It was addressed ad nauseum, and his career died after his behavior continued. He can do the movies he wants or can get for acting or directing and people will either see them or not, which will probably be like Jodie’s movie she did with him. Not many were interested.
@Feebee
It wasnt just jews and his gf though. He said sh*t about black people and mexicans in those rants too. Frankly I’m sick of the way these bigots pander to jews as soon.as they offend and act like everyone else doesnt matter. Gary Oldman did this too. Its almost like the rule is you can be as hateful as you like just try not to offend the jews please. (I hope that doesnt sound like an apology for anti-semitism, its just a demand that others be taken just as seriously.
😊 Thank u
@ Moira,
Evil @ss people are just that. Evil @ss people. Hopefully, one day, Mel and Old man will have a heart attack and as they lay dying, they will realize that they are suffering because of their past and present hatred. More than likely that won’t happen because most filthy, successful people never reap what they sew. Karma doesn’t work on everybody. Shame.
Yeah.
@feebee @jayna
Sugar tits, is that you?
Didn’t know about the comments made by Susan Sarandon, but Mel started his headlong topple with me with the Jew comments & hit the ground head first with the pack of n*ggrs comments & how he verbally/physically abused his girlfriend.
Drunks usually say what they wouldn’t dare say but feel when sober. I really, really liked him as an actor but I just can’t support him after those episodes. He may have moved on but the stench of his presence lingers.
TOK, I don’t think I was as clear as I thought… I didn’t need reminding of the severity of his abuse towards Grigorieva – I was merely saying why I thought HE thought the time for apologies were over. I truly believe he’s only sorry for the Jewish comments – because of the consequences. I don’t think he minded offending the African- or Mexican-American populations (much less of a stink was made there). I really don’t think he gave a sh-t about his behavior with Oksana because I think he’s the type of guy who looks at women as property and they shouldn’t consider themselves as equal to him. Things may have been differently with his first wife but subsequently that’s what his attitude though his abuse of Oksana says to me. But I don’t think HE sees himself like that (or maybe he does and sees nothing wrong with it) end result — he won’t publicly apologize for it and thinks we should just all move on.
@feebee
Correct, he is an abuser who doesn’t want to change. End of the story 😉
@ Dena
No, it’s not me. Ever since watching Australia’s PRISONER way back when I’ve always prefer “Vinegar Tits” as my go-to. ‘Sugar Tits’ has a way too nicer a ring to it.
Now I’m wondering if Mel watched the programme in Aussie and that’s where he got it from… just decided to change it up, add a little Mel Gibson charm to it.
@feebee. LOL. I like that: Vinegar Tits😄. I can weave a million stories & visuals around that one. Thanks!!!
Thanks for the clarification, feebee. I re-read your original comment and now I totally see where you’re coming from–you were speaking from Mel’s perspective.
I think you’re right too. I think that’s exactly how he sees things.
Sorry that I misread your comment. I get so heated when it comes to this guy so I tend to jump the gun a lot.
You know, I try to be understanding and forgiving of people who are struggling with substance abuse problems, but I just can’t once I learned about how mean he was to a little girl: http://www.laineygossip.com/Mel-Gibson-yelled-at-young-Gaby-Hoffmann/27241
“He screamed at me. Oh, God, he really screamed at me,” is how she described working with Mel, otherwise known as The Perpetual Motion Machine of Hate and Creepiness.
Gaby’s words are specifically about the time they were making The Man Without A Face in 1993. Gaby says of the incident that she “was acting like a kid instead of a professional actor, it happens once in a while when you’re a kid actor,” and Mel “just started cursing and screaming at [her].”
…What I love about this is story is that it’s about Good triumphing over Evil after such a long time. Picture Mel Gibson in 1993: he’s a grown man, he’s an enormous star, and he’s losing his sh*t on sweet angel Gaby. I like to imagine that in that moment she knew she’d be able to use his freak out against him one day in the future. So she just sat on this story. She kept quiet. …. She was patient. And now she and Mel are both adults, so she can express clearly and maturely how he treated her like piss and basically abused her as a minor.”
That makes me feel sorry for his children. If he can do that to a stranger, who is a kid, imagine the wrath those closest suffered. Yikes.
That’s awful. And I loved that movie.
Awful story but THIS. This is Mel Gibson. He’s always been like this.
At what point do we stop making excuse for someone and just admit that they’re a pretty sh*tty human being?
Pretty sure you’ve made that point multiple times already.
Something nice: I like the wall graphic, it’s soothing.
Something I agree with: I have no idea why Gary Oldman dredged up all this stuff at such a late date, but it does say something about what Gary Oldman festers or ruminates on. Hollywood does steal ideas, but not solely as a conspiracy against Gibson. That’s why there are 50 billion talent show copycats, remakes of old films, and the same action movie that has run six ways til Sunday for the last 20 years, only under various names*. (*see Tom Cruise , for example)
Something someone else said on another thread, which I agree with: Gibson had the meltdown when his bankability was already in decline, as his looks and youth were fading. If you have old movie channels, and that’s basically all that I have, minus streaming for new, many of his films were fairly crappy fluff that highlighted his ‘prettiness’. He was good in a few films, but he was never Daniel Day Lewis, let’s get real. Hollywood might forgive an a*hole, but not a loss of revenue. Gibson still has his fans and admirers; people went to see the Christ film. But he doesn’t have the same kind of draw for younger and older audiences that he once did, and that is beyond the control of Hollywood. A lot of stars fade away at his age, without the nasty meltdowns. It is what is is. Saying that you’ve apologized enough, isn’t the best move to endear you back to the audience. He should have just reiterated that he regretted that time period and changed, period.
Good post Kiddo, and I’m impressed you noticed the wall graphic. Wait, no I’m impressed you find it soothing. I look at it and kind of get a mid-rave epileptic vibe, but maybe it’s that strobe light he’s holding.
Okay nm, I’m going back to sleep.
It’s the flashing of the evil death rays shooting from his eyes. Shield yourself.
@Kiddo
Bwahahahahahah best post today!! Rofl!
Good observations. True on all points.
I don’t think that he has changed. I think Mel Gibson has a lot if inner demons. He needs serious professional help to deal with whatever he has going on.
I think it’s incredibly complicated, beyond mental health issues. He has deeply ingrained beliefs handed down by his father, who practiced some extreme religion that blamed the Jews for everything, and I suspect, fostered a very chauvinistic approach toward women, where their place was below men. You would need to deprogram a person like that, and they would have to want to abandon their dogma, not just change as an individual.
Agreed. These things dont exist in a vaccuum. There are rumors about bipolar disorder and alcohol addiction, but the upbringing is possibly even harder to overcome. The hardest patients are the ones who feel like they are victims. That is essentially the root of so much racism.
U’ve said it so much more nicer than I would have because in my mind I was thinking “Mel is that way because his father f*cked him up.” We are are indoctrinated / socialized into belief patterns when young by are parents but can u imagine what life is like in those extreme and narrow belief systems for the weakest links–women & children and heck all the angst, hyper vigilance and hatred and the weight of that little boys are expected to defend and carry forward as men? Talk about mental health issues . . .
Hollywood’s protectiveness of pedophiles and molesters makes me forgive a racist, bigot, wife beater, Mel Gibson.
Really? Because you can’t be appalled at both?
Adrien, go back to watching Fox News. They have many racist bigots there for you to enjoy.
lol
Jules,
There is a salient point to Adrien’s comment. Several celebrities signed a published statement that advocated leniency for Roman Polanski claiming his loss of career was sufficient punishment for his much more heinous crimes.
What rationalization accounts for reviling Gibson the raging racist,/misogynist/homophobe but not Polanski the child rapist who fled the country to avoid prosecution?
I think Jules’s point is that most of the people mentioned are equally-reviled by all of us.
Yes Hollywood celebs and celebs in general are pretty forgiving of anyone who can contribute to their careers.
Touche’ and Bazinga!
Huh? How about we agree that all those categories of offenses are bad? Hard as it may seem, it’s possible to not be a child molester OR a racist bigot.
I think you’re being sarcastic about Hollywood’s selective morality based on what is germane to the bottom line PR slants, but I’m not sure.
He looks like Dorian Gray without the picture.
I personally don’t care if he does get cast in movies or TV shows. I won’t see them anyway, so go ahead. Let’s see what kind of box office he brings in these days. If he tanks, I’m sure he’ll find plenty of people to blame it on.
He probably made the unforgivable mistake to throw away his Dorian-Gray-kind-of picture in a fit of rage, probably around the time he was with Grigorieva..
And oops, all evil caught up with him…
What I hear is, “quit bothering me about this, you should have gotten over it a long time ago.” Mel has forgiven himself for his public screw up (that one, at least), but I highly doubt he has changed. I usually don’t read that much into subtext of the words people choose because it can be misleading, but in this case, i don’t know. It seems to support Mel’s victim stance and attitude of entitlement and victimization of others. Its always about what someone else is doing wrong–classic abusive bs. Hearing him shrieking “I deserve to be blown” at his gf was such a sickening sound with so much meaning, I don’t think I’ll forget it.
No one is all good or all bad. Mel seems to have done a great job hiding his evil side until about 10 years ago. I suspect it was there all along. We are probably all aware of the bipolar rumors, but that would never excuse such dikkish behavior.
Good post.
*diKKKish
Oh, the Kitten has claws!
Respect.
I can not really say I am in any way sympathetic towards him, but I do agree with people who say that there a quite a few people in Hollywood who have done more despicable things and none of those things has cut their careers short.
I just got back from Karlovy Vary. The film festival is not as huge as Cannes (nowhere near thank God!) but it is still a big event in Central Europe. Every year there is a special guest who gets Lifetime Achevement Award – last year it was John Travolta, then the year before Susan Sarandon and in the last couple of years also Jude Law (he is so hot in person!), John Malkovich and many others. So it’s not about desperation – they get plenty of celebrities.
The decision to invite Mel Gibson of all people caused a lot of controversy and actually it’s very surprising. I mean Mel Gibson isn’t the greatest actor ever, he is an asshole and basically everyone hates him. But the creative director of KVIFF (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival) is a bit old school so maybe he wasn’t really looking into the gossip and just invited Gibson as a celebrity. Who knows. I actually saw in person him Saturday night. He is really really small. Looks his age and basically is totally uninteresting. Unappealing bitter old man basically.
That is not a matter of looking into gossip, rather….of reading papers? It is like when a festival down south in England invited Mike Tyson, hell broke loose and there was even a petition on change.org… Needless to say, the event was cancelled….
You know who hasn’t apologized enough to us all?? His Tanning Artiste and Whatever Dr Gave him that subtle Kenny Rogers (maybe Stallone’s Guy?) shit he’s got going on.
I think it’s the same Doctor & Tanning Artiste that Penn uses as well.
That man should be thrown in jail.
Absolutely agree! Immediately in jail!
You are onto something OKitt
The maquillage shade is called ‘Reddleman Solar Splash’ and it’s very chic in 1878. What, you’ve never been?
It has nothing to do with how much you apologize. There’s no apology for being a horrible human being. It’s whether or not you’ve taken the steps to personally change and not be the racist, bigoted, violent monster that you were (still are IMO).
I can’t help but think of the heat miser from A Year Without Santa Claus from when I was a kid….that second photo of him…dead ringer.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pWCjGbg2InI/TvP5lcqn7dI/AAAAAAAAEBo/gqFAG5nrvfk/s640/heat2heat2.jpeg
Yeah. I think he summed it up himself with “necessary mea culpas”. In other words, doing that which is required/necessitated as a means to an end, versus genuinely feeling regret about the sentiment and actions: only feeling sorry about the ramifications and consequences.
He seems like the type of person who expects to be forgiven instantly when he says he’s sorry. Never mind that he didn’t mean it. He said “sorry” what more do you want?
Many abusers are like that, unfortunately. You can’t cure this level of ingrained douchery.
The Devil is really coming out of his face. Evil people really don’t age well huh (also see Woody Allen).
I’m not a big fan, but I do see his point a little. What is he supposed to do, exactly? Assuming for the moment that he actually is sorry, once you’ve apologized, once you’ve gotten yourself some counseling to deal with anger issues, what then? Are you supposed to publicly flog yourself for the next 30 years?
At some point, you really have done all you can. Some people will simply never forgive you, which is their right, but I don’t think you have to spend your entire life focusing on them.
That’s a good question, what IS he to do? I wonder if he hired a publicist who developed a specific long-term campaign to slowly and steadily improve his reputation if that wouldn’t help. He seems like he’s flying by the seat of his pants in trying to recover his fumbles without any professional advice. And in this interview, he’s so full of p-ss & vinegar and he seems so volatile.
Awhile ago I read a short piece about how to effectively apologize and recoup a public life. A celeb/public personality was advised to issue a public apology and include a short statement that shows you understand what you did wrong. Then you’re supposed to disappear from public life for at least a few months.
But then again, following the prescribed method doesn’t always work as Hollywood and the general public are fickle. I never understand why some celebs can come back after a fall and others can not. John Galliano hasn’t been able to resume a career. Dixie Chicks didn’t achieve a full recovery and waaaay back when, Lionel Ritchie wasn’t able to recover his career after a cheating scandal.
Well, for one, Gary Oldman did him no favors. He picked at a scab and made the bleeding fresh for the public. A simple, ” I regret that time period in my life” in interviews would suffice. If he has no projects, he shouldn’t even give an interview. Railing about Hollywood espionage, although it has truth, only makes him sound like a tin-foiled nutter with an undercurrent of bitterness bubbling at his industry. If he is finished with financing his own projects and no one will invest, then he is reiterating that he’s washed up. He has nothing but frustration with the industry and that doesn’t translate as someone who has made a great turn-around.
He should work with whatever remaining friends that he has left, and take bit parts, and gradually work his way back in. He could say something like, “I’d be willing to take small roles” etc. instead of raging at the machine.
There isn’t a great deal of humble pie in this interview.
Yeah, Oldman definitely did him no favors.
However, I completely disagree that Gibson is expressing bitterness toward Hollywood. He is just being frank about how the business has changed. Regardless of his PR problems, the big studios are now financing fewer films, and those projects tend to be CGI-laden franchises rather than star vehicles.
Anne Thompson just posted a lengthy video interview where he talks at greater length about the business. Mel is a fidgety mess (as usual), but he’s not at all bitter about anything except maybe stardom. Anne practically begs him to direct another film, and he’s like: eh, I’m thinking of retiring.
You might be right, Sam. Reading quotes is entirely different than hearing them, since parsing intonation is speculative in print. I’m not sure who Anne Thompson is, but Gibson clearly states he has ideas that he doesn’t want lifted. A person seriously considering retiring, it would seem to me, wouldn’t be so proprietary about something they have no intentions of seeing to fruition. But I haven’t read the interview you mentioned. I can only attribute attitude and intention based on history.
@Kiddo. Here’s the interview with Anne Thompson (long time entertainment journalist):
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/mel-gibson-interview-video-karlovy-vary
As she writes in the comments, Mel is seeking recognition and approval from the studios.
It’s ironic. Mel Gibson is cheered by some on the right as being a Hollywood outsider who outfoxed the studios at their own game with The Passion. As someone with F-you money who told “the elites” (code for you-know-who) to go to hell. But in reality, Gibson is very much a Hollywood insider who wants studio funding and distribution.
He needs to disappear and stop whining.
Thank God none of the comments today are saying Griogerieva asked for it by being a gold digger. I seem to recall a previous post having a few comments about how she deserved to get beaten and screamed at because she was a gold digger and she knew he was a jerk, because that makes it perfectly OK.
To commenters who say things like this:
“He’s a crazy drunk but entitled to his beliefs” —
No one is ENTITLED to the kind of beliefs he has. No one is entitled to the racism, sexism, anti-semitism, and negativity he has.
Not only does he have an evil gleam in his eye, but he’s starting to look and act like Richard (“I am not a crook”) Nixon.
Wow. He was so freaking hot in Mad Max and the Lethal Weapon movies. Now he just looks…oily.
Look, Gibson did some awful things. But has he done anything lately? Has he been accused of anything seriously? He seems like a guy who is truly trying to move on and posts like this make it clear that people just can’t give others a chance to redeem themselves. This is a guy with serious issues, including alcoholism and growing up with a serious deranged father. During 20 years or more in Hollywood, no one spoke badly of him. Most of his costars and directors have defended him at one point or another, even jews like Richard Donner. So he fell off the wagon and went crazy. Why is it impossible that he can fix his act again, like he did before? I think his interview is pretty decent. YOU don’t know what he’s done to redeem himself because he doesn’t talk about it. Unlike most Hollywood stars, he’s not staging pap ops to show him saving kids or helping people with cancer to fix his image. People are allowed to reform themselves, and I’m very disappointed to see that this blog, who is so open minded for other stuff, to just stomp on someone with no argument whatsoever.
He may have shortfalls in his personalities but you have to know there are evil hands in hollywood manipulating people and set traps and make people into their slave /mindless zombie. Mel was against that power structure and hence became the target. The higher ups of media manipulate what we see and hear. Dont just judge ppl by what you see and hear when you dont know what/who is really behind all this.