No stranger to racial controversies, Mel "Lethal Weapon" Gibson finds himself in some deep sh*t once again. And I suspect that a pissed off woman and a digital voice recorder are to blame, far more than anything Gibson said.
Mel Gibson's career may not be able to recover from this one. Confirming rumors that have swirled for the last week, RadarOnline.com posted a two minute audio clip Friday in which Gibson unleashes a horrific, profanity-laced tirade against his former lover Oksana Grigorieva.Here's the audio of Gibson's rant. If you're a cube-dweller you might wanna cop some headphones first. If you're one who's squeamish about off-color language.
Following the tape's release, Gibson's talent agency dropped the star, reportedly for being a liability.
Grigorieva told photographers from gossip website X17online.com that she had "no idea" who was releasing the tapes to Radar and that she thought it was "terrible" that the audio had gone viral. When asked if she had meant for the tapes to go public she said, "Not at all."
Look, there's no way to defend what Gibson's saying. Insinuating that some brothers would jump his woman in a back alley because she's wearing a too-short skirt plays into all the worst stereotypes about black male criminality. Poppin' random menacing sh*t about his baby's mother isn't a good look either. Danny Glover might need to give him a call to talk this one out.
So Gibson's a jackass who makes greasy racist and sexist statements in private.
And?
This is a private conversation about a private matter. Gibson isn't teaching kids, denying anyone their Constitutional rights, or passing legislation. He's merely a once-successful movie star, and he's merely talkin' mad sh*t to his child's mother.
And?
This is clearly a setup, despite anything this woman says about not knowing how the tapes got out. Come on now, she's clearly saying things to rile Gibson up. Listen to how cool this woman is, and how batsh*t insane Gibson sounds.
Jesus, this guy needs some Prozac and a therapist, pronto.
Still, this is a personal matter. It doesn't effect any of our lives, and it continually ticks me off to see people "accidentally leak" tapes of private convos like this to sully the reputation of a former loved one for personal gain, be it Dog The Bounty Hunter's son or Alec Baldwin's ex-wife.[1] It's called a private conversation for a reason.
Leave the voice recorders alone, folks.
Question: Assuming you agree that Gibson's sexist/racist rant was entirely reprehensible, is it equally reprehensible to leak an unknowingly recorded personal conversation to the press? How, if at all, does this latest incident change the way you view Mel Gibson?
Audio clip released of Mel Gibson's racist rant, ex Oksana says she didn't leak profanity-laced tape [NYDailyNews]
[1] It's entirely possible that I'm being completely dismissive of these three incidents because 1) I don't care much for Gibson 2) I don't even know what a Dog The Bounty Hunter is and 3) 30 Rock is the best show on TV, so Baldwin gets a pass for talkin' sh*t about his own kid.
