Mel Gibson isn't looking that cute anymore. The actor-director has admitted to making anti-Semitic remarks during his most recent drunken driving arrest early Friday and has asked forgiveness.
"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," he said in a statement released today by his publicist.
He says he's "in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display." Gee, I wonder. Days before the opening of Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ," which portrays Jews as the killers of Jesus, his father, Hutton Gibson, was quoted as saying the Holocaust was mostly "fiction." And in an interview Gibson gave at the time, he referred to the Holocaust as "a numbers game." How insulting to the millions who were murdered or lost loved ones in that bloodbath.
Prejudice is a disease transmissible from parent to child. Since Gibson himself has many children, one can only wonder what they've been taught to believe, either overtly or by osmosis.
He hopes members of the Jewish community will help him in his recovery efforts. "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."
And why, exactly, should his venomous beliefs become the responsibility of those he despises?
Still, the Anti-Defamation League has offered to help him with "his second rehabilitation to combat this disease of prejudice" after he finishes his rehab for alcohol abuse.
He was pulled over for speeding along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, then arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and released several hours later after posting bail.
During a lengthy tirade, he said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?"
James Mee, the deputy who arrested Gibson, said, "What I had hoped is that he would think twice before he gets behind the wheel of a car and was drinking. ... I don't want to defame him in any way or hurt him. That stuff is booze talking."
If only that were true. Mel, we hardly knew ye.
13 comments:
Mel, you ignorant slut. I'm so upset about this that I'm going to drown my sorrows in cheap vodka and warm beer. This one's on you.
Will you be home late, honey?
Goddamn Aussies. :)
Actually, Gibson was born in New York, my home state. :(
Goddamn New Yorkers.
Really? Where on earth did I get the idea he was Australian? My apologies for my misdirected racism.
I would still have done him during his Lethal Weapon 1 days. *hangs head*
Him and Tom...what the hell happened???
It's sad to see. I used to think he was soooo fine - I look at him now and feel like an idiot for ever admiring him.
Chris - you're right - Tom Cruise too.
Anon, You're right, too. He was BORN in NY but grew up in Australia. :<)
Christina, He WAS hot. although I liked Danny Glover better, maybe because he's a better actor. As for Tom, it's just freaky. I don't think his elevator goes all the way to the top anymore.
Jali, You're not the idiot -- HE is. You would think when a person has everything he could hope for, he wouldn't hate anyone.
Update: Gibson has been invited to speak at Yom Kippur services at the L.A. Temple of the Arts. It IS the day of atonement, and Jewish law decrees that if a person asks forgiveness from the heart, one is required to forgive and help him heal from his sins.
It's a beautiful and challenging concept
Do you believe Mel is truly sorry and wants to build a new community of understanding with the Jewish? Or is all about PR?
Dear Anon,
Do YOU believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy?
I believe that prejudice goes so deep that it consumes its host like a parasite from inner space. He would have us think that his sober self is a completely different person from his drunk one. Sorry, I don't buy it. Alcohol loosens the tongue but the thoughts expressed must be there already. And that's so sad. To hate any entire group of people is to impoverish ones own life beyond measure, no matter how much material wealth one has.
I DO believe in Santa Claus but not the Tooth Fairy. The very thought of a woman who will give me money for my used teeth gives me the shudders.
I hear you, Sistah. And I laugh out loud, I mean I feel your pain. I have to agree, the idea of somebody buying old teeth is pretty rasty.
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