Australian actor Mel Gibson has denied Winona Ryder’s allegation that he made homophobic and antisemitic comments at a party back in the ’90s.
In a statement to Variety, the disgraced Oscar-winner’s rep claimed Ryder’s story is false.
“This is 100% untrue,” the statement reads. “She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now.”
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Ryder was asked if she had ever experienced antisemitism in the industry and responded with an awful story about the ousted actor that she had previously shared in a GQ interview in 2010.
Credit: Getty
“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends,” she said. “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?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”
Ryder claims that Gibson later tried to apologise, something that his rep also claims to be untrue. “She lied about him trying to apologise to her back then,” the response reads. “He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”
Gibson’s denial would be a helluva lot more believable if reports of both antisemitic and homophobic behaviour *hadn’t* followed him throughout his career. In a 1991 interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Gibson made derogatory remarks about gay sex and claimed he would never be confused for a gay man because of the way he looks and moves.
“I’m not apologising to anyone,” he said years later when a Glaad protest took place outside the premiere of Braveheart. “I’ll apologise when hell freezes over. They can fuck off.”
During a 2006 DUI arrest, Gibson also said that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world”. He has also been recorded on tape making racist remarks while expressing a desire for his ex-girlfriend to be raped.
Gibson is set to star alongside Naomi Watts in action film Boss Level and the Christmas comedy Fatman and please don’t fucking see either of them.
Kudos to the folks behind the freshly announced Chicken Run sequel for reportedly recasting his role.
