comment #1

Mike Gebert says ...

If this year in celebrity headlines has taught us anything, it's that 20 years as a megastar with people fawning all over you and agreeing with everything you say means you're likely to wind up believing and spouting some amazingly stupid shit.

Maybe Tom can come over and explain to Mel that it's not the Jews, it's the Thetans.

comment #2

craptastic says ...

Well put, Wells. Well put.

comment #3

thung says ...

Oh boy, I walk in from a long day and a hard week, go to the news channels looking for news on The Wars, can barely find any and turn on my computer to find you've waded back into the waters looking for page views with this piece on that subject. In the last few hours, I've discovered an unusually detailed story by Roger Friedman from Feb. 06 about a crazy church Mel is builing. About half way down he pulls an Anderson Cooper and goes to the scene, it's sort of priceless, starting with, "I visited the compound over the weekend...."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184668,00.html

comment #4

craptastic says ...

Depends on the person, Mike. I've been around a major celeb for almost a decade. This person been YES-ED left and right by the biggest phonies in the buisness. But at the end of the day-- this person is FULLY aware that he's being told this just because of the name and cracks up about it.

None of us know Gibson outside of T.V. gossip shit-shows and the litter box liners known as Premiere and Entertainment Weekly (honestly-- why has King lowered himself to that? Work on your endings more! Yet I digress).

The bottom line is... THE GUY HAS A PROBLEM.

From what I know, via those listed above, he's a manic depressive dressed as a handsome clown. Ever see an interview with him? The guy 'jokes' about himself to the point where I'm convinced he's going to start banging his head against the wall-- All the while screaming, "I hate you! I hate you!,"-- while laughing! "Only kidding!"

Jews... give the guy a break. He fucked up. He needs HELP.

Come on... you know the guy brought smiles, tears, gut-laughs, inspiration, etc. to your lives at ONE point.

EVERYONE is entitled to a second chance. INCLUDING someone who make racist comments.

Please forgive the guy.

comment #5

Adam says ...

"We all need understanding, forgiveness, a second chance."

Well said, sir.

comment #6

Anonymous says ...

Oh, come on. Didn't Patrick Goldstein convince you all that you're all spineless cowards if you don't publicly pile on? Why can't the whole world be more like Amy Pascal?

comment #7

Steven R. Silver says ...

Rob Schneider has said he won't work with Mel Gibson any more because of Gibson's comments.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

comment #8

T.H. Ung says ...

Bobby is dead, and a legend, and we never got to see him mature. Mel is alive and evolving, warts and all.

comment #9

Mr. Muckle says ...

Is he just on his second offense, that now we talk of giving him his second chance?

First off, I despise many of his ultra-violent, narcissistic, Christ-complex films -- including Braveheart (which I walked out on), POTC (which I'll never watch), etc., and so on. He's got to take a lot of shit for them.

So already he's long past a second chance. What can I say? He's welcome to his opinions, but not welcome to be considered a respectable member of the human race.

comment #10

Dixon Steele says ...

Have we all made mistakes? Sure. Do we deserve forgiveess. Probably.

But Mel Gibson is a professional anti-Semite. He made one of the most anti-Jewish films of all time and has publically given his Holocaust-denying lunatic father a "pass". Essentially telling the world it's Ok to feel that way.

But hey, it's lovable Mel. So let's all give him some love and encouragement.

I wonder how much love and encouragement he'd be getting if he crashed his car into another. Talk about your Lethal Weapons.

But hey, it's fun-loving Hollywood Mel. His publicist said the right things about contrition. Does anyone actually think he's going to follow through on his promises of sitting down with the Jewish community and discussing his problems? Daddy wouldn't like that.

But look, he sure was funny in WHAT WOMEN WANT, so why make a big deal out of it?

comment #11

Anonymous says ...

It's interesting that so many people are making this bold statement that Mel Gibson is an "anti-semite." But none of us know him, few of us have had conversations with him, and I doubt anyone here can count him as a close personal friend.

But when a close personal friend, and Jew, Dean Devlin says that Mel is no anti-semite, I'm more inclined to believe him than any hysterical internet blogger.

comment #12

Thung says ...

Anne Thompson blote (past tense for blite -- a cross between blog and write) some very interesting personal reflections on Mel: "I'm conflicted about Gibson, whom I've talked to many times over the years. When my husband and I had a few beers with him at the Beverly Wilshire bar during the Mad Max era, I was struck by how much he enjoyed being shocking. (I cannot recount the astonishing story he told us in a public forum.) Years later, during my stint at Premiere Magazine, we did a fun cover shoot with Gibson, Jodie Foster and Kevin Costner on the Warner Bros. lot. Gibson has always been charming, a little guarded about keeping himself private, but always sharp and helpful about sharing info on his movies. On some level, he's eager to please. He is not one of the entitled Hollywood royalty who takes his stardom for granted. With Gibson, you get the sense that he knows it could be taken away at any moment. He's still proving himself, in other words."

I get a sense from these reflections about the Bonaparte quote "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever" that Mel always knew and prepared for his glory being fleeting, and set out to build his private church compound in Agoura Hills to protect and ensure he'd achieve an obscurity of his own design, forever, when the time came. Overly dramatic, probably yes, but truth in there, I think yes.

comment #13

Julian Jaynes says ...

I makes me sick how many people are willing to show compassion and forgive a douche like Mel Gibson, yet no one has any compassion for the millions of homeless, mentally ill, starving and phsycially disabled people.

Because they made their own choice.

Right.

Mel Gibson is just another King on The Hill and and the people who rush to his defense are the peasants.

We are no longer Bicameral.

Kill Yr Idols.

Mel Gibson is the type of person who likes to get drunk and then get in his car and drive ninety miles an hour. That's all I need to know about him. That he has no regard for his own safety and anyone else's.

So if he had "accidentally" killed someone while under the influence, that's to be forgiven?

Aw, c'mon, give the guy a break.

Why should anyone give him a break? Aren't breaks all the guy has ever had?

I'm just jealous.

The only people who are jealous of people like Mel Gibson are the very people who like to tell other people that they're jealous.

I have no interest in being and actor or a filmmaker. Being famous sounds like a drag. I don't need that much money to make me happy. All I need is my house and my car and enough money to pay my bills and buy my kids what they need and maybe, when I have some extra cash, go to the bookstore and go a little crazy.

I'm not very ambitious.

I don't hold celebrities up as the apex of human existence. They're a necessary evil, I guess, as some people need Gods to both emulate and destroy.

Mel Gibson deserves to be punished for the simple crime of putting the public's safety second to his need to drink. Throw him in the clink for 30 days. That'll do it.

comment #14

tommy Evans says ...

Can anyone PLEASE tell me why saying; "The Jews run Hollywood" is considered anti-semitic? I mean, just a cursory scan of the names of the main players would suggest that they do... Or is this all in my imagination?
Tommy Evans

comment #15

Anonymous says ...

He never actually said "I hate Jews," but rather "fucking Jews" and "the Jews are responsible for all of the wars of the world" and asking the officer if he was a "Jew."

When is it acceptable to use the word "Jew?" And if he had substituted "Jew" for "Israeli" would there be the same kind of outrage?

comment #16

Thung says ...

No Tommy, it's a secret, if we told you, we'd have to kill you.

If, if, if. Irony is, Mel probably loves Israel.

comment #17

Thung says ...

Oops, I think support for Israel is a fundamentalist view, not Mel's -- he's not mainstream either. As it turns out:

"Writer Christopher Noxon revealed that the church was for Gibson and fellow parishioners who subscribed to 16th century Catholic values, and did not agree with Vatican rulings of 1965 that, among other things, absolved Jews of Christ’s death."

TALK ABOUT SECRETS, this is quite a tangled web, as explained in the story:

"St. Michael’s and its clerical leader, like the Holy Family Church in Malibu, are not recognized by the archdiocese. The new church is officially supported by something called the World Faith Foundation, which in turn is named in papers filed by another charity, James Hirsen’s Foundation for Free Expression, as an affiliated group."

Fuck, this is the next religious themed movie.

comment #18

Phil says ...

Jackie Mason said on Larry King Mel is not a bigot. No opinion, just thought to mention it.