Gibson’s Apology May Not Save His Hollywood Career

LOS ANGELES — Mel Gibson apologized yesterday to “everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words” he used when he was arrested for drunken driving.The full text reads:“There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark. 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 DUI charge.“I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.“The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God, I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.“I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further and meet with leaders in the Jewish community with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.“I have begun an ongoing program of recovery, and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery.“Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.“This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It’s about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad.”Some Jewish leaders welcomed Mr. Gibson’s new statement.“We are glad that Mel Gibson has finally owned up to the fact that he made anti-Semitic remarks, and his apology sounds sincere. We welcome his efforts to repair the damage he has caused,” the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, said. “Once he completes his rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, we will be ready and willing to help him with his second rehabilitation to combat this disease of prejudice.”“I welcome his words. And I hope and pray that they are sincere and heartfelt,” but Mr. Gibson needs to show “tangible actions” of repentance, Rabbi Mark Diamond, of the 280-member Board of Rabbis of Southern California, said.“I don’t want to minimize for a moment the hurt and anger, the anguish, his words have created in our community,” he said.ABC announced late Monday that it had scrapped plans for Mr. Gibson to produce a miniseries on the Holocaust.Mr. Gibson, 50, has had an edgy relationship with Jewish organizations since the success of his 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which some criticized for portraying Jews as responsible for the death of Jesus. Supporters said the movie merely followed the Gospel story.“Anti-Semitism is not born in one day and cannot be cured in one day and certainly not through the issuing of a press release,” a statement from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said.Mr. Gibson should read about Jewish persecution and the Holocaust and “visit sites where it occurred,” Rabbi Hier added by telephone from Israel.

Gibson’s Apology May Not Save His Hollywood Career

Gibson’s Apology May Not Save His Hollywood Career

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