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Mel 'resented' Jewish criticism
14/10/2006 08:22 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Actor Mel Gibson says his recent drunken, anti-Semitic outburst at police may have stemmed from his lingering resentment of the barrage of Jewish criticism levelled at his 2004 film The Passion of the Christ.
In an interview aired on ABC's Good Morning America on Friday, Gibson also suggested his statement to police, that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world", grew out of his concerns about the violence raging between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon at the time.
But the 50-year-old star told interviewer Diane Sawyer he was "ashamed" of the things he had said during his drunk-driving arrest on July 28.
Asked by Sawyer, "What are the Jews responsible for?", Gibson replied, "they're not blameless in the (Mideast) conflict," then added: "Now when you're loaded ... the balance of how you see things comes out the wrong way."
'I need to heal myself'
Gibson told Sawyer: "Let me be real clear, here. In sobriety here, in front of you, national television ... that I don't believe Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. I mean, that's an outrageous, drunken statement."
He also denied being influenced by the views of his father, Hutton Gibson, a Holocaust skeptic who has said publicly that he doubts six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis.
The interview, run over two days, concluded with Gibson saying he needed to "heal" himself and to "allay the fears of others and heal them if they had any wounds from something I may have said".
Gibson fought off charges of anti-Semitism over The Passion two years ago.
The film is a portrait of Jesus's crucifixion that Jewish leaders claimed would incite hatred and even violence toward Jews.
Gibson's conduct 'rings hollow'
"I was subjected to a pretty brutal public beating," Gibson recalled. "The film came out and, you could have heard a pin drop. Not even the crickets weren't chirping. But the other thing I never heard was one single word of apology.
"I thought I dealt with that stuff. But the human heart can bear the scars of resentment, and it will come out when you're overwrought and you take a few drinks."
Reaction from Jewish leaders to Gibson's TV appearance was mixed. Some said his explanations for his conduct rang hollow.
Kenneth Jacobson, deputy national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he was heartened by Gibson's closing statement, and particularly touched when the actor said, "the last thing I want to be is that kind of monster".
"But I felt that when Diane Sawyer was probing about why he did it, there was a problem because there is a thin line between explanation and excuses, and some of it came close to excuses," said Jacobson.
- Reuters
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South Africa
