August 1, 2006
LOS ANGELES-- “[DELETED EXPLICATIVE] Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Words that the American Patriot, a 50 year-old Oscar winning Actor Mel Gibson will be sorry he said for a long time. In the second apology since he uttered the words after Friday's arrest, Mel Gibson claimed that he was not a bigot or an anti-Semite as he apologized to “everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words" that he used when he was arrested for driving under the influence.
“Hatred of any kind goes against my faith" Gibson said in a statement released by his publicist. “I'm not just asking for forgiveness. I would take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I an have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing."
Gibson was stopped by Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputies on Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angles on Friday for speeding. Deputies observed an open bottle of Cazadores tequila in the front seat of his Lexus. Gibson, according to arresting deputies, launched into a rant that included the ant-Semitic statements.
Gibson is now saying that he's “in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display."
An civilian attorney in charge of a civilian oversight panel responsible for overseeing allegations of wrongdoing against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that a preliminary review for improprieties on behalf of the department found nothing wrong with the handling of Gibson's arrest. The county review board was investigating whether the Sheriff's Department gave special treatment to Gibson, who previously made a $10,000 donation to the family of a slain deputy and has appeared in public service announcements for the department dressed in a Sheriff' Deputies uniform.
Attorney Michael Gennaco, head of the county Office of Independent Review said “In this case the information reviewed to date indicates LASD did ensure that the arrest of Mr. Gibson was handled in accord with its policies and practices."
Gennaco's review concluded that besides the procedures for stopping, testing, arresting, and taking Gibson to the sheriff's station for booking, “most importantly, all information that should have been presented to the DA regarding this arrest and the underlying and surrounding circumstances was presented to the District Attorney."
He said that the investigation was continuing into whether disclosure and documentation of information about the arrest was consistent with departmental policy.
Gibson's statements were originally welcomed by some community Jewish leaders. To some people, including some in the Jewish community they felt that it was all about movies, and Gibson's future income, and had nothing to do with Gibson's feeling any remorse.
Barbara Walters said on ABC's The View Monday morning that “I don't think I want to see any more Mel Gibson movies." ABC is owned by Disney, which was in the early stages of planning the marketing of Gibson's next film Apocalypto.
Marketing the movie was already a tough job. The films characters speak in an ancient Mayan language, much as the characters in the controversial The Passion of the Christ who spoke on Aramaic and Latin.
The move also has no stars and its topic about the decline and fall of the Mayan empire is not typical box office product. Disney had counted upon Gibson's star power as a marketing point for the film.
In Gibson's first statement made Saturday he said that he “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."
Gibson, 50 admitted that he has struggled with alcoholism for years, and that after this arrest he was seeking treatment for the addiction.
His publicists Alan Nierob said that “He has entered into an ongoing program for recovery. The guy is trying to stay alive." Nierob would not give any additional information.
On Monday ABC canceled a planned miniseries about the Holocaust that it was developing with Gibson's Icon Productions.
“Given that it has been nearly two years and we have yet to seen the first draft of the script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon," ABC said in a statement.
Talent Agent Ari Emanuel of The Endeavor Agency, and other Jewish leaders lambasted Gibson on HuffingtonPost.com, a Blog operated by Arianna Huffington.
Emanuel wrote “At a time of escalating tensions in the world, the entertainment industry cannot idly stand by now and allow Mel Gibson to get away with such tragically inflammatory statements."
Emanuel wrote that the entertainment community should react to Gibson's poor choice of remarks by “professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice for their bottom line."
Gibson's arrest, and statements may have some repercussions in the evangelical Christian community as well.
Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist with the conservative Focus on the Family said about Gibson “if he really was drunk, that is wrong for anyone with his visibility, especially with the idea that he is claiming to be a Christian. I share the concerns that many people are feeling right now."
Gibson has faced accusations of anti-Semitism when he produced, directed, and financed the 2004 blockbuster The Passion of Christ, which some Jewish leaders complained cast Jews as the killers of Christ. Before The Passion was released, Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson was quoted by several media outlets as saying that the Holocaust was mostly “fiction" that has been “sensationalized by the Jewish community."
The Passion of Christ was criticized by many in the Christian community as being a sensationalistic portrayal of violence for the sake of producing box office dollars. Popular Evangelist, and former Presidential Candidate Pat Robertson purportedly said that “there is no way that Christ could have endured that much physical abuse, even as the Son of God, without dying before His crucifixion."
Gibson won an Oscar for his 1995 Braveheart, and started in the Lethal Weapon and Mad Max Films. Gibson has concentrated on producing films for TV through his company Icon Productions over the past several years. Gibson has made hundreds of millions of dollars from his The Passion of Christ film that he has had the ability to finance his own films through Icon, and he has enjoyed some independence from the major studios. The last supporting role that Gibson played was in the 2003 film The Singing Detective, which he also produced but didn't score too well at the box office.
SOURCES/CONTRIBUTORS: AP WIRE LOS ANGELES TIMES LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY HOLLYWOOD REPORTER HOLLYWOOD HOTSHEET
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© Copyright 2006 Randy L. Harrington. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Republication or redistribution of this Article, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Randy L. Harrington. For information about serial reproduction, and distribution rights contact the author.
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