Movies

Mel Gibson interview halted after Will Smith slap attack question

April 4, 2022

Mel Gibson shut down Jesse Watters after the Fox News host asked his opinion on Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock. Photo by Twitter

Mel Gibson’s handler pumped the brakes on an interview after Fox News host Jesse Watters asked the actor for his thoughts on Will Smith’s smack at last Sunday’s Oscars.

Gibson was appearing on the program Friday night to promote his upcoming role in Father Stu, when Watters alluded to the star’s past troubles as he asked, “You understand it probably better than a lot of people, with your career. I was wondering if you had been the one that jumped up out of his seat and slapped Chris Rock, if you would’ve been treated the same way, Mel. Have you ever thought about that?”

Gibson shook his head, indicating he wasn’t going to offer an opinion on that scenario when a woman’s voice was heard off camera telling Watters the interview was over.

“Thank you, Jesse,” she said. “That is our time.”

Gibson is no stranger to controversy. During a Malibu DUI arrest in 2006, the Oscar winner unleashed an anti-Semitic rant.

The arrest report read in part: “Gibson blurted out a barrage of anti-Semitic remarks about ‘f—ing Jews.’ Gibson yelled out: ‘The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.’ Gibson then asked: ‘Are you a Jew?’”

He also was caught on tape going on a racist rant directed to his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, saying that she was going to be “raped by a pack of n—ers” for the way she dressed.

In 2020, actress Winona Ryder recounted an incident from the 1990s in which the Lethal Weapon star referred to her as an “oven dodger,” a reference to the Holocaust.

“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’” Ryder said. “And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”

Gibson denied the interaction with Ryder through his rep, saying, “This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now.”

In a 2016 interview with variety‘s Playback podcast, Gibson spoke about his 2006 DUI arrest.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Gibson said. “I was loaded and angry and arrested. I was recorded illegally by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for that crime. And then it was made public by him for profit, and by members of — we’ll call it the press. So, not fair. I guess as who I am, I’m not allowed to have a nervous breakdown, ever.”

Gibson’s father, Hutton, who passed away in 2020 at the age 101, was known for his anti-Semitic views, including statements publicly denying the Holocaust.

Gibson’s appearance on Fox came in the wake of Smith’s resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for slapping Rock onstage at the Oscars ceremony last Sunday.

“The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home,” Smith said.

mdaniell@postmedia.com