Mel Gibson Is Knee Deep in Issues of His Own Making

I wrote this back when Gibson’s greatest hits (actually, it was after his first telephone message was released) were making the rounds on the Internet.  Since that time there has been a lot of legal stuff going on in which I haven’t kept track.  I did hear that Gibson admitted that while he was smoking outside his daughter who was in his care at the time fell off a table.  He was cast in the ‘Hangover’ sequel but was dismissed after Zach Galifianakis tweeted his displeasure and a slew of fans wrote the studio.  Dear Mel wasn’t very happy at the turn of events and his supporters pointed out that one of the stars of the first movie was Mike Tyson and although I agree in theory, and was hesitant when I heard about Tyson’s role, I still his bit funny – you know time has passed and he did serve time for his crime – whereas with Gibson his words of hatred are still echoing in my ears.  Really folks, do you not have a concept of too soon?

 

            To be honest, I don’t know if Grigorieva tried to blackmail him or not nor if she is a gold digger or not because it makes no difference in terms of his abuse.  He has a history of chasing demons and apparently rehab and Hollywood shame hasn’t been able to curb his issues.  That’s not to say that I think he needs to move to a cave of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, but I do think he needs to chill the hell out and try his best to step back from the spotlight. 

 

           Thus without further ado, I’m posting this article.  

 

I just heard the tape of Mel Gibson chewing out Oksana Grigorieva, mother of his youngest child, for having faux breasts and wearing clothing he deemed too tight because it embarrassed him.  Hey Mel, you know what is also embarrassing?  Having a former lover sound reasonable while you are ranting about how she might be raped by a bunch of people whom you fondly describe by using infamous ‘N word’ because somehow the way a woman dresses should affect if it is okay to rape her or not.

 

                It was reported yesterday in ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ that the agency which represents Gibson for film work, William Morris Endeavor, has kicked him to the curb over the his latest shenanigans.  For 32 years he was represented by Ed Limato who died this past July 3^rd.  Although ‘his people’ are trying to put a positive spin on the situation, emphasizing that Gibson has work lined up for two years and that he is a victim of Grigorieva who recorded him when without his alleged knowledge.  The fact that Ms. Grigorieva recorded him is smart because it is what people in the legal profession call evidence (even if it may not be something that can be used in a civil or criminal court).  At the end of the day, if she hadn’t put him on tape than he may have not only continued to bully her face to face, but he would have hired an army of lawyers to beat her up within the legal system.

 

                Of course, this isn’t the first time Gibson has been called to task for his rants.  In late July of 2006 Gibson was pulled over by for a DUI and made his now famous anti-Semitic rant as well as referring to a female cop as “Sugar ****.”  He went through the classic stages of celebrity remorse – he apologized, went to rehab, and then submitted to an hour long interview with Diane Sawyer where he talked about his demons and otherwise sounded contrite.   I’ll come clean and admit that I’m a sucker for giving people second chances.  Even though someone might be rich and famous it doesn’t mean that their life is perfect by a long shot.  Although I had, and still have, no intention of seeing Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ’ (for personal reasons) I did admire that he funded the movie himself versus John Travolta using his star power and having ‘Battlefield Earth’ (based on a book of the same title written by Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard) which ended up bankrupting one a small production company that bankrolled the film after it went over thirty million in budget.  Hey, if you are going to do a film based on your beliefs that might be deemed controversial to many, at least fund it with your own bank account.  With that said, this last ruckus has definitely thrown me into the permanent anti-Gibson camp.

 

                Listen, it isn’t like Mel Gibson was on top of his game when his relationship with Grigorieva made news in the tabloid magazines.  The last movie he was in was ‘Edge of Darkness’ which only grossed 43 million in the U.S. and less than a 100 million worldwide (the production budget was eighty million) it was his first starring role since ‘Signs’ which came out in 2002.  With ‘Passion’ coming out in 2004 and ‘Apocalypto’ coming out in 2006 (the year of his DUI debacle) I think it is safe to assume, as his hairline heads south, that he was hoping that his second phase of show business was going to be behind the cameras.  Unfortunately for Gibson, it seems as if by not conquering his inner demons means that his career in the public eye is over.  The poor performing ‘Edge’ showed that he was star non grata with film audiences either because his reputation was such that many didn’t want to go to his films (Woody Allen films no longer sound appealing to me after the whole Soon-Yi Previn scandal) or his star power finally burned itself out due to his age and long absence from the silver screen.

 

                I don’t think anyone listening to the most recently released recording of Gibson can’t help but be shocked.  The mean spiritedness that comes from both his words and the vigor in which he speaks them indicates that he is a very angry man.  There is speculation that he might have been drunk, but like in July 2006, this may help explain the situation, but it by no means excuses it.  According to his Wikipedia page, Gibson and his wife, Robyn Moore, have yet to divorce even though she filed in April of 2009 after a three-year separation.   Gibson and Grigorieva have a daughter, Lucia, who was born in October of that year.

 

                Gibson is still a part owner of Icon Productions of which he is one of the founders.  I think he can basically kiss his film career goodbye after all of this, although I’m sure in a decade or so down the road, barring any other scandals of this sort, he might be able to return to film or television in cameo roles – or not.  I don’t think the apologizing, going to rehab and then a contrite interview with Diane Sawyer is going to solve this issue for him.  He has stepped over the line between rambling hate speech (of which he seems to have included all minorities – even the fine ladies that grace the Vegas Strip) to threats of violence, and admitting past acts of violence (as a rumored unreleased tape allegedly contains him not only admitting hitting Grigorieva in the face but saying he did it because she deserved it).  On top of all of his other troubles, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has launched a domestic violence investigation against him. 

 

                According to Gibson’s IMDB site, he has ‘The Beaver’ coming out which was directed by his friend Jodie Foster and is about a man walking around with a beaver puppet on his hand.  He is currently filming ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’ (an ironic title considering the circumstances) which is a project that he not only stars but also is listed as one of the screenwriters.  According to the synopsis, it is about a criminal that learns how to survive in a Mexican prison…once again with the irony.  He has some other projects lined up, but if I were a betting girl, I would imagine that stars like Leonardo Dicaprio will find some excuse to pull out.

 

                So there you have it, Mel Gibson proves himself to be his own worst enemy.  I doubt that he will go to jail, but then again, who knows. It will be interesting to see if his still legal wife Moore pipes up about any of this because one gets the impression that Gibson’s escapades could make Tiger Woods’ indiscretions look like jaywalking.  If he does end up in jail one then has to wonder if he and Lindsay Lohan are going have similar prison tats?   

 

Westerfield © 2010