Why Famous Bigots Should Lay Off the Booze

For any of you who believed the drivel about Mel Gibson *not* infiltrating the story of "The Passion" with his own anti-Semitic biases...

Gibson was arrested early Friday morning driving nearly double the speed limit with a blood-alcohol content of .12%. Thanks to the power of the internet, you can see the hand-written police report here.

According to the report, Gibson “blurted out a barrage of anti-Semitic remarks about ‘f**king Jews.’ Gibson yelled out, ‘the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.’ Gibson then asked ‘Are you a Jew.’”

Gibson also addressed a female officer as "sweet t*ts".

Classy.

After the story came out (and the cover-up failed), Gibson made the following public statement / apology:

After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County sheriff's. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person.

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 who I have offended.

Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry.

I have battled the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.

The Anti-Defamation League appropriately noted that the statement contained no specific apology or explanation for the anti-Semitic comments. They offered the following public statement / admonishment:

Mel Gibson's apology is unremorseful and insufficient. It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-Semitism. His tirade finally reveals his true self and shows that his protestations during the debate over his film "The Passion of the Christ," that he is such a tolerant, loving person, were a sham. It may well be that the bigotry has been passed from the father to the son. It is unfortunate that it took an excess of booze and an encounter with a traffic cop to reveal what was really in his heart and mind. We would hope that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite.

[Note: the comment about father-son passing of bigotry refers to Gibson’s father’s statement that the Holocaust was not real, from which Gibson refused to distance himself.]

So it turns out that the anti-Semitic undertones from Passion of the Christ actually did come from Gibson’s own prejudices. Shocking.

Gibson sounds like the perfect person to produce a movie set against the Holocaust. I’m sure that the portrayal of a Jewish family being sheltered by Christians during WWII would be completely accurate with no undertones whatsoever.

Just like The Passion showed both sides of the story and What Women Want was not a sexist piece of crap that portrayed women as shallow, over-critical, self-centered nymphos.

Right.