Sunday, April 24, 2011

Mel Gibson Said 'I Don't Care If I Don't Act Again'

Hollywood star Mel Gibson has suggested he may not act again as he broke his silence over the 'domestic violence' scandal involving his then-girlfriend. He told a US website: "I don't care if I don't act anymore. I could easily not act again. It's not a problem.

"I'm going to do something now because I want to do it and because it's fun." In tapes leaked to the media, the Lethal Weapon actor was purportedly heard ranting, swearing and threatening former Russian partner Oksana Grigorieva on the telephone last year.

Gibson called the leaking of the calls a "personal betrayal", adding the tapes were "terribly humiliating and painful for my family". Last month, he pleaded no contest to a charge of hitting Grigorieva, who is the mother of his baby daughter, as their relationship broke down in early 2010. He was sentenced to three years probation, and was ordered to spend a year in counselling and also told to do several hours of community service.

The tapes were leaked as Gibson was trying to make an acting comeback after making anti-Semitic remarks during a drink-drive arrest in 2006, and the end of his 28-year marriage. Gibson said the tapes were edited, adding; "It's one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn't represent what I truly believe or how I've treated people my entire life."


He added: "Who anticipates being recorded? ... Who could anticipate such a personal betrayal? Actors on the sequel to comedy Hangover 2 refused to work with him because of the fall-out from the tapes.


Gibson's longtime manager left him and his movie The Beaver was delayed for months. Gibson also told Deadline Hollywood: "I've never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality - period."

The delayed movie The Beaver, in which Gibson plays a depressed husband who communicates through a beaver hand puppet, is now set to be released in the US on May 6. The star said he was working on a "total bodice-ripping swashbuckling" comedy movie project in which he hoped to take a supporting role.