[Peace-discuss] Mel Gibson RIP

[Robert Naiman]

I am so delighted to see this right-wing thug go down. Is that bad?
The Daily Mail omits that he sexually harassed a female deputy, as
reported by TMZ and the Daily News. What a beautiful human being.
Definitely the sort of person who should be responsible for moral and
religious instruction. I do hope the ADL and the Wiesenthal Center
aren't too busy with other activities to concern themselves with this.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=398182&in_page_id=1773

29/07/06 - TV & showbiz section

Mel Gibson 'in anti-Semitic rant' after drink drive arrest
By SHARON CHURCHER, Mail on Sunday

Mel Gibson was embroiled in furious controversy amid claims he
launched an anti-Semitic rant after being arrested on suspicion of
drink-driving.

The 50-year-old Oscar-winner, who is from an ultra-conservative
Catholic family, is alleged to have told sheriff's deputy James Mee:
"F****** Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the
world."

It is claimed Gibson then asked: "Are you a Jew?'

The allegations were made by an American website, which claimed the
comments were included in the report into the incident written by Mr
Mee, the officer who arrested Gibson.

Hollywood, ultra-sensitive to any hint of anti-Semitism, was abuzz
with talk of the claims, which could, if true, destroy Gibson's
career.

TMZ.com posted what it says are excerpts from Mr Mee's handwritten
report, and the story was reported by newspapers including the New
York Daily News.

Police declined to confirm or deny the claims, which come two years
after the actor's father launched a vicious attack on Jewish people,
claiming they fabricated the Holocaust and were conspiring to take
over the world. At the time Gibson was facing criticism that his film
The Passion Of The Christ was anti-Semitic.

Gibson's spokesman Alan Nierob told The Mail on Sunday: "We are
unaware of any of the information pertaining to the police report. We
will be happy to issue a statement to you once we have one. In the
meantime we have no direct knowledge of any details."

According to the widely read website, partly owned by Time Warner's
AOL subsidiary and generally regarded as reliable, the actor also
'continually threatened' Mee, bragged that he 'owns Malibu' and would
spend all his money 'to get even' with the officer.

The site reproduced four pages from what it said was Mee's eight-page
original police report. It said that Mee was ordered to rewrite it,
omitting the alleged slurs, after his superiors decided it was 'too
inflammatory'.

TMZ claims he was told he could write a supplementary report
containing the omitted information, which would not be issued to the
media.

The Daily News additionally quoted a sheriff's deputy saying that a
top official 'personally' ordered them to withhold from the media the
mugshot taken when Gibson was arrested.

Los Angeles sheriff's department's media spokesman Steve Whitmore
repeatedly refused to answer The Mail on Sunday's question: "Is the
report posted on TMZ genuine?'

He said: "My only statement is that the sheriff's department's
investigation into the arrest of Mr Gibson on suspicion of driving
under the influence will be completed and will contain every factual
piece of evidence. Nothing will be sanitised. There was no favouritism
shown."

One Hollywood insider who knows the star said: "Everyone is talking
about this. It could destroy his career. People were sympathetic about
the drinking allegations until they heard this."

Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 50 per cent over California's legal
limit, TMZ reported.