MALIBU, Calif. - Mel Gibson was arrested early Friday for suspicion of driving under the influence, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said.
Gibson's vehicle was speeding eastbound on the Pacific Coast Highway when officers stopped him at 2:36 a.m., Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Gibson, 50, was booked at the Lost Hills Sheriff's station at 4:06 a.m., according to department records. The actor-director was cited and released, Whitmore said. Bail was set at $5,000.
"The investigation is ongoing," Whitmore said. "As we would do with anyone, we don't want to release any more since the information is fragmentary."
Gibson's spokesman, Alan Nierob, said he was looking into the matter.
Gibson won a best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart."
Like his 2004 religious blockbuster, "The Passion of the Christ," which was shot in Aramaic and Latin, his new film, "Apocalypto," was done in an ancient tongue, Yucatec Maya.
Gibson has starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, "What Women Want" and "The Man Without a Face," among other movies.
-----------
Gibson 'Ashamed' About His Behavior
SATURDAY JULY 29, 2006 11:00PM EST
By Ken Lee
Mel Gibson
Actor Mel Gibson released a contrite statement through his publicist Saturday regarding his DUI arrest in Malibu early Friday morning.
“After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed," the statement read. "(After) I was stopped by the L.A. County Sheriffs ... 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."
He added in the statement, "I have battled the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."
Hollywood gossip website TMZ.com posted four pages of what it alleges are copies of the police report, which details the Oscar winner screaming profanities and anti-Semitic slurs at authorities after being pulled over for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway on Friday.
Weekend-duty sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Hocking would not confirm that the police report posted on TMZ was legitimate. He also had no comment on allegations by the Web site of a cover-up, since on Friday sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that Gibson was "arrested without incident."
"Our investigation has not gotten that far, but we're trying to put out the facts regarding the case. It's still being determined what actually occurred," Hocking tells PEOPLE.
Whidden said this in post #6 :
Hollywood gossip website TMZ.com posted four pages of what it alleges are copies of the police report, which details the Oscar winner screaming profanities and anti-Semitic slurs at authorities after being pulled over for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway on Friday.
I really hope that is just Hollywood gossip. If true, then to me, it's worse than the drunk driving. I know his dad is a strong anti semite, but I had thought that Mel was beyond all that and had fallen far from the tree.
Oh well, it's from a gossip website, so I do hope that it's bogus. To me the drunk driving thing is stupid, but I don't hate him for it. But if he really is a Jew hater, then I would have to sign off on him. Which would suck, as Braveheart is one of my favorite movies.
BY MICHELLE CARUSO
DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF
LOS ANGELES - A day after being busted for drunken driving, Mel Gibson apologized yesterday for getting behind the wheel while "inebriated" and said he was "deeply ashamed" of the "despicable" things he said in an abusive rant to cops.
The Oscar-winning star and director of "Braveheart" said he had suffered a "horrific relapse" in a decades-long battle with alcoholism.
"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," Gibson said in a statement. "I am deeply ashamed of everything I said."
The 50-year-old actor didn't get more specific about his tirade to the L.A. County sheriff's deputies who stopped him on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu early Friday.
The sheriff's department has refused to release either Gibson's mug shot or the report of the arresting officer, Deputy James Mee. But celebrity news Web site TMZ.com obtained several pages of Mee's report and published explosive details.
According to Mee's report, Gibson berated and threatened the deputy, saying, "You motherf-----. I'm going to f--- you."
"The Passion of the Christ" director also made anti-Semitic remarks. "F------ Jews. Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," Mee's report quotes Gibson as saying.
The "Braveheart" star offered a public apology yesterday to Mee, who "was just doing his job."
"I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to another person," Gibson said in his statement.
Cops said Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 when he was pulled over for speeding. The legal limit in California is 0.08.
The Aussie-raised actor said he had battled alcoholism "all of my adult life." He said he had "already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health," but he did not elaborate.
Police officials, meanwhile, denied they purposely covered up the star's tirade.
"There was no favoritism. There was no sanitization. A complete report of everything that occurred will be turned over to the district attorney," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
I don't know. I have liked this guy a long time. But if he is calling drinking a "disease" and all that rot, it's a cop out. I been battling a disease.
Nope, AIDS is a disease. You been battling an addiction. Totally different. And the anti Jew statements about them causing every war, that's just bogus.
Whidden said this in post #8 : According to Mee's report, Gibson berated and threatened the deputy, saying, "You motherf-----. I'm going to f--- you."
"The Passion of the Christ" director also made anti-Semitic remarks. "F------ Jews. Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," Mee's report quotes Gibson as saying.
Lets face it, if someone said this, even in the event of being drunk, its usually a sign that they really feel this way. Why else would someone just say that out of the blue like he did.
How pathetic.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
I mean, if he was a staunch Christian that, I don't know, directed a violent film about JC's demise I might side with that alleged allegation that Gibson was an anti-Semite. But come on. Mad Max? Martin Riggs? Those are friends of mine. And I'll appreciate you not exploiting their Jew loving/hating lives.
Anyone see 'Bird On A Wire'? That was dope.
Hand shakes and fist pounts. Nothing but love what what.
I was busted once for something like what Gibson is going through. But this isn't his first rodeo. I hate drunk drivers too. And I have said some pretty ignorant crap during terms of inebriation. Not making excuses, just breaking it down.
As far as his pops, who knows. My grandfather was a giant racist. For some whiteys they grew up that way. It's ignorant and horrible, but what can you do. You're raised a certain way... sucks.
Mel Gibson Anti-Semitic Rant Confirmed
Official Report Shows Actor Spewed Epithets During Arrest
(Page 1 of 2)
LOS ANGELES, July 31, 2006
(AP) An official police report on Mel Gibson's arrest on drunken driving charges substantiates claims that he made anti-Semitic remarks and threatened a deputy, a law enforcement official said Monday.
On Monday, Sheriff's Department officials sent prosecutors their case, which also says a tequila bottle was found in Gibson's car when he was pulled over on the Pacific Coast Highway.
Gibson had released a lengthy statement Saturday apologizing for saying "despicable" things to sheriff's deputies when he was arrested, but he did not elaborate. The entertainment Web site TMZ.com had reported that the sheriff's department was considering eliminating the anti-Semitic remarks from its official report.
The report forwarded to prosecutors cites Gibson as making disparaging comments about Jews, according to the law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
TMZ reported that Gibson said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?"
The district attorney's office confirmed prosecutors had received the case and it was under review. A tentative arraignment date was set for Sept. 28.
On Monday, a sheriff's spokesman defended the department's handling of the case.
"In that case file will be (Gibson's) statement, will be our report, will be everything pertinent to his blood-alcohol level. We have done our job," sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told reporters Monday at department headquarters. "We hope we've done it with not only professionalism and intelligence, but held to the highest standard of legal and moral imperative."
The department, he said, was "convinced because of our investigation and because of his own self-illuminating statement that he will be convicted of driving under the influence."
In his statement, Gibson said he has struggled with alcoholism and taken steps "to ensure my return to health."
The actor was "participating in an ongoing program to deal with this," Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob told The Associated Press on Monday. "The guy is trying to stay alive."
The questions about whether police were covering up Gibson's remarks came partly because Gibson has a relationship with Sheriff Lee Baca. He has dressed in a sheriff's uniform to film public service announcements for Baca's Star Organization, a charity group that raises scholarships for children of department employees. Gibson also donated $10,000, Whitmore said.
AP) Gibson was arrested after deputies stopped his 2006 Lexus LS 430 for speeding at 2:36 a.m. Friday. Whitmore said deputies clocked him doing 87 mph in a 45 mph zone.
A breath test indicated Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, Whitmore said. In California, a driver is legally intoxicated at 0.08 percent.
Gibson posted $5,000 bail and was released hours later.
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Gibson's apology "unremorseful and insufficient." Prominent Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel called for an industry boycott of Gibson in a blog posted Monday.
"At a time of escalating tensions in the world, the entertainment industry cannot idly stand by and allow Mel Gibson to get away with such tragically inflammatory statements," he wrote. "People in the entertainment community, whether Jew or gentile, need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line.
"There are times in history when standing up against bigotry and racism is more important than money."
This is not the first time Gibson has faced accusations of anti-Semitism. Gibson produced, directed and financed "The Passion of the Christ," which some Jewish leaders said cast Jews as the killers of Jesus. Days before "Passion" was released, Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, was quoted as saying the Holocaust was mostly "fiction."
Gibson, 50, won a best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart," and starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, among others.
In recent years, he has turned his attention to producing films and TV shows through his Icon Productions. The hundreds of millions of dollars he made producing the 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" has given the star the ability to finance his own films, giving him a measure of independence from the major studios.
His next movie is "Apocalypto," about the decline of the Mayan empire. It is being distributed by The Walt Disney Co.
07-28-2006 10:56 PM
Now he's a REAL celeb, right?
