Mel Gibson busted out his "A" game on a hot blonde at Victoria's Secret party -- well, we imagine he did ... and we imagine it sounded very familiar. And angry.

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Now that he doesn't have a Maccabees project to work on ... Mel Gibson spent his Thursday night hangin' with a blonde babe at the Victoria's Secret "What Is Sexy?" party in Bev Hills.

It appears the 56-year-old is trying to control his temper by hanging out with model citizens.

Mel Gibson spoke out last night for the first time about his epic, profanity-laden, secretly-recorded rant against writer Joe Eszterhas ... and he actually had a bit of a sense of humor about the whole thing.

Gibson explained to Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" ... that Eszterhas turned in a script for "The Maccabees" to Warner Bros. that was rejected and so Gibson felt his actions were "justified."

As for the 9-page letter Eszterhas wrote to Gibson, Mel joked, "If he put half as much time and effort and creativity and imagination into a screenplay, which he was supposed to write, as he did into that letter ... we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Finally, talking about the infamous tape, Mel joked, "Maybe you don't know this about me, but I've got a little bit of a temper."

Yes, Mel ... we know.

Mel Gibson's getting away with murder ... again -- at least according to Kathy Griffin, who insists the actor still hasn't been appropriately punished for his multiple violent-sounding rants.

We asked Kathy if she thinks Mel's taking too much crap for his outbursts -- and Kathy responded ... "No, he's not getting enough crap."

So we gotta ask ...

Mel Gibson is seriously considering suing Joe Eszterhas for secretly recording him at his home in Costa Rica last December, and then releasing the audio rant.

Sources connected with Mel tell TMZ ... the actor believes he has a "basic human right" NOT to be secretly recorded in his own home. 

We're told Mel's people are looking at the laws of Costa Rica to determine if recording laws were violated and, even if they weren't, if Mel's right of privacy was violated by the release of the audio.

Mel explodes in the recording about Eszterhas' lack of progress with "The Maccabees" script  -- "What the f**k have you been doing!!" He also unloads on Oksana Grigorieva, calling her a ""F**king c**t, c**ksucking whore."

We're told Mel believes anyone recorded "at their worst moment" would sound awful, and it's unfair to trap people in their refuge.

One Mel source notes with skepticism that Eszterhas has made other allegations against Mel ... that the actor also ranted against the Jews and expressed pleasure that John Lennon was shot and killed ... but none of that is on the tape.

Just hours after Mel Gibson's latest expletive-riddled tirade was leaked onto the Internet, the actor was brazenly asked about his relationship with the Jewish director on his new film "Get the Gringo" -- and it was really, really awkward ...

It all went down moments ago at a Q&A session in Texas for Mel's movie -- the director, Adrian Grunberg, was wearing a Star of David necklace ... prompting the host to ask, "Did you [and Mel] have any trouble working together?"

Everyone laughed nervously at the question -- and Mel replied uncomfortably, "No."

Grunberg explained that he was indeed Jewish, but he's worked with Mel for years without a problem. Grunberg then joked, "I hate [Mel's] guts."

It's worth noting -- the third writer on the project (in addition to Grunberg and Gibson) is also Jewish.

The host quickly changed topics ...

Mel Gibson is caught on tape exploding in a rage during a trip to Costa Rica last December, screaming at the top of his lungs ... and now the audio has been released. WARNING: EXPLICIT, FILTHY LANGUAGE.

The Wrap obtained the tape from Joe Eszterhas -- the man who wrote the screenplay for "The Maccabees" with Mel. Eszterhas has made shocking allegations that Mel ranted about killing Oksana Grigorieva, hating Jews, and praising the guy who killled John Lennon.

Eszterhas's son Nick recorded one of Mel's outbursts ... which starts with Mel blasting Joe, "Why don't I have a first draft of "The Maccabees?" What the f**k have you been doing?"

Mel goes on, turning his anger at Oksana: "I am earning money for a filthy little c**ksucker who takes advantage of me." 

Mel can then be heard slamming objects in the house, and then continues screaming, "Who wants to eat? Who the f**k wants to eat? Go have something to eat. Hurraaayyyyy!"

Mel continues to cuss, adding, "f**king c**t, c**ksucker whore."


4:59 PM PST -- Mel just arrived to a speaking engagement in Austin, TX to promote his new film, "Get the Gringo."  Wonder if anyone will ask him about Costa Rica ...

Mickey Rourke continues to be Team Gibson all the way in the Joe Eszterhas/Mel Gibson feud -- telling our photog that Joe is just upset that Mel didn't want to make a movie with him.

Rourke -- who would only talk to us for a second straight day if our camera guy bought him ice cream -- said that Eszterhas is just bringing up "old s**t" because he has a personal beef with Mel.

Rourke supports Mel even though he knows it's not the popular thing, telling us, "I know my agent is going to yell at me tomorrow for sticking up for Mel, but ... somebody has to."

Mel Gibson has at least one supporter in Hollywood ... his friend Mickey Rourke ... who tells TMZ, he thinks Joe Eszterhas is a LIAR ... who's out to smear Mel's reputation.

Mickey was leaving Caffe Primo in West Hollywood when we asked about Joe's allegations that Mel is a violent Jew-hater who hates John Lennon.

Mickey's response -- "Everybody is looking to make Mel look bad ... he's an easy f**king target."

He explained, "We live in a town that's built on envy."

It's not the first time Mickey's come to Mel's defense -- back in 2010, following Oksana Grigorieva's domestic violence allegations, Mickey said, "I wouldn't believe everything you hear ... I think he's a good dude, you know. And ah, screw the bitch!"

Joe Eszterhas says Mel Gibson's behavior in Costa Rica was so threatening ... Eszterhas' son slept with a butcher knife under his bed because he was so afraid of what Mel might do.

Eszterhas, speaking with the "Today" show this morning, told Ann Curry that Mel said the "vilest and most threatening things" he's ever heard while Eszterhas and his family stayed with Mel in Costa Rica to work on a movie script, "The Maccabees."

Eszterhas went on to say that the staff at the house became so afraid of Mel ... they told their kids to go hide.

A portion of Mel's rants are on tape, as TMZ first reported, but Eszterhas is unsure if he will release them.

For his part, Gibson has denied most of the allegations, saying in a statement, "The great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in [Eszterhas'] letter are utter fabrications."

Mel Gibson is telling friends ... he NEVER said John Lennon deserved to die -- in fact, he's a huge Beatles fan and he plays their music all the time.

Sources tell TMZ, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' allegations the actor celebrated John Lennon's death are just false. As one source put it, "It's not uncommon to hear The Beatles at Gibson's house."

The source adds, Gibson was even playing "Imagine" at a recent function -- the same song Eszterhas says Mel bashed recently, claiming, "Imagine. I hate that f**king song. I'm glad [Lennon's] dead."

Mel is claiming ... he isn't surprised by Eszterhas' false claims in his 9-page diatribe -- because the entire letter reads like a "bad script."

We're told Mel is also convinced ... another major rift between him and Eszterhas had nothing to do with him -- or "The Maccabees" -- it had to do with Mel's other viking-themed film project, which Mel's been developing for years.

We're told Eszterhas was frustrated with Mel ... because Mel had been putting more time into the viking movie than he did into "Maccabees."