Mel Gibson, drunken anti-Semite (source: European Pressphoto AgencyWell, it’s finally happened. Mel Gibson has finally allowed the liquor to loosen his tongue enough so that he can get all of those anti-Semitic slurs he’s been harboring for so long out of his system. I’m sure he feels he’s a better man for it now that he’s done it. But the question is whether he’s now burned so many bridges that his career will suffer. There is no doubt that Gibson is a gifted actor and creative talent. Until he released The Passion of Christ I’d seen many of his films and admired his work. But that stopped when Passion came out. And I’ll never view another of his films. Let all his evangelical friends take my place. But I wonder what the evangelicals will have to say about his latest tirade. They’ll probably call him a God-fearing fellow and forgive him.
Here’s what the NY Times is reporting:
The film star and director Mel Gibson apologized Saturday for belligerent behavior and for saying what he called “despicable” things that he does “not believe to be true” when he was arrested here on a drunken-driving charge early Friday.
But Mr. Gibson, in a statement, stopped short of addressing claims that he made virulently anti-Semitic remarks to an arresting officer, as described on a Web site that posted several pages of the sheriff’s report.
The sheriff’s report, carried on TMZ.com, a Web site owned by Time Warner, said Mr. Gibson had demanded to know if the officer, James Mee, was a Jew. During an obscenity-laced tirade, according to the report, Mr. Gibson also said “the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”
Very nice, Mel. Now, I wonder what all those rapacious Hollywood folks will think about cooperating with Gibson in the future. To those Jewish film executives I have one question: “This man hates your guts. Why for crying out loud are you doing business with him?” Of course, the simple answer is that Gibson makes money for them. And money is the bottom line. Make it and you’re golden. Lose it and you’re history. Mel makes it. Or has until now.
One wonders how Gibson can continue as producer of the four part planned miniseries about the life of Dutch Holocaust survivor Flory Van Beek. How can an anti-Semite make a movie about a Holocaust survivor? It’s preposterous. Hollywood are you listening??
One also wonders how his fans and the general public will react to this new development. Will they stand by him or not? Given the obvious lack of candor in his statement one wonders whether he can dig himself out of this hole:
I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone I may have offended.”
He clearly DOES believe what he said. The only difference between that fateful night and any other is that he managed to keep his big trap shut when he was sober. Loose lips have sunk his ship. I hate to revel in someone’s unhappiness, but this guy had it coming if anyone did.
Here’s what TMZ had to say about the matter:
According to the report, Gibson became agitated after he was stopped on Pacific Coast Highway and told he was to be detained for drunk driving Friday morning in Malibu. The actor began swearing uncontrollably. Gibson repeatedly said, “My life is f****d.” Law enforcement sources say the deputy, worried that Gibson might become violent, told the actor that he was supposed to cuff him but would not, as long as Gibson cooperated. As the two stood next to the hood of the patrol car, the deputy asked Gibson to get inside. Deputy Mee then walked over to the passenger door and opened it. The report says Gibson then said, “I’m not going to get in your car,” and bolted to his car. The deputy quickly subdued Gibson, cuffed him and put him inside the patrol car…
Once inside the car, a source directly connected with the case says Gibson began banging himself against the seat. The report says Gibson told the deputy, “You mother f****r. I’m going to f*** you.” The report also says “Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he ‘owns Malibu’ and will spend all of his money to ‘get even’ with me.”
The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: “F*****g Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Gibson then asked the deputy, “Are you a Jew?”
The deputy became alarmed as Gibson’s tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and then said, “What the f*** do you think you’re doing?”
A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, “What do you think you’re looking at, sugar tits?”
TMZ then reveals some potentially troublesome (if true) information about an effort by the police officer’s superiors to “sanitize” the arrest report for containing language that was considered “too inflammatory:”
Deputy Mee then wrote an eight-page report detailing Gibson’s rampage and comments. Sources say the sergeant on duty felt it was too “inflammatory.” A lieutenant and captain then got involved and calls were made to Sheriff’s headquarters. Sources say Mee was told Gibson’s comments would incite a lot of “Jewish hatred,” that the situation in Israel was “way too inflammatory.” It was mentioned several times that Gibson, who wrote, directed, and produced 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” had incited “anti-Jewish sentiment” and “For a drunk driving arrest, is this really worth all that?”
We’re told Deputy Mee was then ordered to write another report, leaving out the incendiary comments and conduct. Sources say Deputy Mee was told the sanitized report would eventually end up in the media and that he could write a supplemental report that contained the redacted information — a report that would be locked in the watch commander’s safe.
I imagine that effort to sanitize the report has just died a deserved death after these media revelations.
TMZ quotes Gibson’s mea culpa from which I’ll only quote the last sentence:
I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.”
Yeah, Mel. You can get treatment for alcoholism. Maybe you’ll even become a recovering alcoholic if you’re lucky. But how can you cleanse your mind of Jew-hatred? That’s even harder than going straight.
I’ve always been aware of his feeling about women. He didn’t make any secret of them. Keep em barefoot and pregnant, that’s Mel.
I haven’t watched one of his movies in years including Passion. I wouldn’t allow my kids to see it. There is nothing Christian about that movie.
I hope, now that his true feelings are out there for all to see, it will put paid to his influence and his career.
Richard,
You’re the most “reasonable man” on the planet. But, if you had Mel Gibson’s brain to “drive around” you probably wouldn’t do much better with it. Humans drink and fight. On our better days we love the people we fight with. In my woods, we hate the Hatfields on the other side of the creek because they’re there. In my youth I always took personally the remarks of every drunk Hatfield, so the local historians took interest in me and studied my McCoy clan. Some folks not in our Hatfield-McCoy families chose sides after reading the history books. The people choosing sides were crazier than us, and made ridiculous statements in support of one side or the other. Eventually the community associated me with the Hatfields and declared me as one of those Hatfield-McCoy feud folks. That’s when I decided to become a Duger. I still love, hate, drink moonshine, and fight with the folks across the creek, but no one is studying me because I’m a Duger now. Those Hatfields and McCoys got themselves a bad name somehow.
The Hatfield kids had to be taught to hate the McCoy kids and vice versa.
Mel is an excellent teacher.
So, Mel Girbson got drunk (again) and acted stupid (again). So, Ingrid Bergaman got pregnant with twins by someone not her husband. We missed out , potentially, on a lot of great performances by Ingrid because the moralists among us prevailed. Now, are we going to throw Gibson’s talents down the drain? If his actions offend you that much, don’t go tohis movies or watch any of his productions. But, for cryin’ out loud, the world has a lot more significant issued for the news media and the heads of various groups to deal with than the drunken stupidity of one man.
Well, gee, those are exactly parallel moral faults now aren’t they? Adultery & anti-Semitism–equal sins in yr eyes. That’s rich.
You know nothing about anti-Semitism and that words like Gibson’s have been uttered fr. time immemorial by cretins from Roman proconsuls to Adolf Hitler (to Mel Gibson). And those words either precede or accompany vicious anti-Semitic acts. Words become deeds all to easily around issues like this. That’s why Jews are so sensitive. And that’s why you are absolutely clueless.
‘We’ aren’t throwing his talents down the drain. He did that all by himself. ‘We’ didn’t force him to drink, we didn’t force him to speak hateful words. He made that choice himself & will live w. the consequences.
I’d encourage you to go on to whatever ‘more significant issues’ you have to deal with. But I & most of the rest of the human race are going to be concerned about this for at least a few hundred years or more until the hatred dies the death it deserves.
I think most people will forgive Mel. I don’t think there is any reason to exact a pound of flesh from him. Sure his statements were ignorant and could reflect a deeply held anti-semitism. But maybe not. He is certainly not his father when it comes to bigotry. In fact, if Mel Gibson is anti-semetic, he is pretty mild.
I absolutely don’t agree w. yr sentiment. I will not forgive him. Why should I? You’ll note that in his “apology” he neglected to apologize to the one group he most insulted: Jews.
If you don’t acknowledge that these views “reflect a deeply held anti-Semitism” then you know next to nothing about anti-Semitism.
As for his father, his father is an avowed Holocaust denier & Gibson has said he is certain that his father would never profess any idea that could be wrong or false. That makes Gibson either a Holocaust denier or a fellow-traveler.
Why the hostility? Do you just lump everyone who doesn’t agree with you in the category of “knowing next to nothing about anti-Semetism”.
You seem to beleive that Mel Gibson is as rabid in his anti-Semitism as his father. On what evidence is that based?
I would agree that Mel Gibson holds some anti-Semetic beliefs, but I don’t think its quite fair to say he is in the same league as his father just because he won’t speak out against him to the media. As far as I know, Mel himself has never come out and publicly stated that the Holocaust was fiction. Some try to point to his movie as an example of his anti-Semitism, but I would disagree. The movie simply lays some of the blame for the crucifixion on the Jewish elders – not all Jews in general. And the elders do deserved part of the blame. Does holding “someone” accountable for thier actions make one an anti-Semite is that “someone” happens to be Jewish?
Oh, I don’t know–maybe it has something to do with 1,000 years of Jew hatred. I don’t like anti-Semites or those who excuse their behavior. It’s one of my “sensitivities.”
No, I don’t lump everyone in that category, just those who don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to anti-Semitism.
Gibson fils is as much a Holocaust denier as his father. He’s learned to couch his phrasing more carefully than his dad. Do a search here on “Mel Gibson” & find the post I wrote about his comments about his father.
Yes, he’s come right up to the line but hasn’t crossed over. He’s one smart anti-Semite that one. He uses all the phrases of Holocaust deniers in talking about the event. He just hasn’t been explicit. But everyone who studies the Holocaust and Holocaust denial knows what the code words mean that he’s used.
Your view of the film is not the view of Jews who have seen it. Like Blacks criticizing media portrayals of their race, we Jews know when we are portrayed in an anti-Semitic way or in a way that encourages anti-Semitic stereotypes of Jews. And Passion is such a portrayal.
Mel is an ardent follower of Opus Dei, a group which yearns to return to the conservative theological & political past of the Church. One of those nostalgic yearnings is for the anti-Semitic notion that Jews killed Jesus. Saying that Jews caused all the world’s wars is of a piece with the notion that Jews killed Jesus.
In defending Mel, you’re fighting a lost cause I’m afraid.
Well 4 years have gone by since the last postings about Gibson went up here. And now he’s back in the news again. What strikes me is the hypocrisy of this man. Back before the anti-Semitic tirade, he was known as an extremely devote Catholic. He even started his own congregation that held their masses in Latin. But since then, he has divorced his wife, lived in an adulterous relationship with another woman. Fathered her baby out of wedlock and recently has been accused of beating her up. WOW, what would Jesus say about this guy?