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BULLETIN: Gibson: "I'm Not an Anti-Semite"

Posted Aug 1st 2006 10:59AM by TMZ Staff

Mel Gibson LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mel Gibson says there's "no excuse" and there should be "no tolerance" for "anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark." In a statement, Gibson says, "I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a D-U-I charge."

Gibson goes on to say, "I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith." He asks to meet with leaders of the Jewish community for what he calls a "one-on-one discussion" to find "the appropriate path for healing."

Click to read the Gibson's entire statement

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271. It would be nice if we could actually read this statement. The TMZ logo interferes with it.

Posted at 1:53AM on Aug 7th 2006 by Sunshine

272. The Mel Gibson Controversy
by Len Bourret (Copyright 2006)

I believe that Mel Gibson's legal sentence is appropriate.

As a Jewish person, who happens to be gay, I can only respond by saying that Mel Gibson has always been kind to me, to the Jewish community, and to the gay/Jewish community. He has not appeared to be anti-semetic, and has always been respectful to those around him--regarding of their ethic, racial, or sexual orientation. I believe that the alcoholic personality was talking, and not Mel Gibson.

As a human being, Jewish or Non-Jewish, I do not take offense to an otherwise gentle-and-kind Mel Gibson.

There are others who agree:

Sigourney Weaver Backs 'Decent Guy' Mel Gibson...r"Mel has apologized profusely for the incident and there the matter should rest. Mel has also indicated his willingness to seek help to overcome his alcoholism and has asked the Jewish community for forgiveness. What more can he do?" -- James Dobson

But, there are others who disagree. Here's what the San Diego CityBEAT has to say about the Mel Gibson controversy:
"First, the matter should not rest. The matter is a matter because it matters. Public discussion of Gibson%u2019s drunken conniption has people talking about important issues: anti-Semitism, drunken driving, sexism, alcoholism and favoritism in police treatment of the rich and famous. Even if Dobson forgives Gibson, he shouldn%u2019t call for the matter to be laid to rest%u2014because the matter is not just a matter of pity for poor, drunken-driving, Jew-hating, arrest-resisting, power-mongering Mel.

True, Dobson is accurate in reporting that Gibson has reached out to the Jewish community for forgiveness. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, has even graciously offered to help Mel after he gets finished with rehab. But by not owning up to his anti-Semitism, doesn%u2019t Gibson%u2019s reaching out look a little bit like a desperate effort at damage control? And if Gibson is really about to begin this transformation into a decent person, the matter is the opposite of ready for a rest%u2014it%u2019s just starting to matter.

Second, Dobson asks, %u201CWhat more can he do?%u201D Lots, Jim. Let me share with you some of the suggestions from my fellow Jews, as reported by Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press, and then I%u2019ll respond to each suggestion and offer one of my own before I get in the car and drive (sober) to L.A. for a good bagel from Brooklyn Bagel..."

What do you think?