Past Deadline

O.J. Simpson Tells All! (This Headline Recycled From 1996)

The press release screams "After 12 Years, O.J. Simpson Finally Takes the Stand!" And your first thought is naturally something along the lines of, "Oh yes, I am just so very certain that O.J. Simpson is going to confess all for the first time on some dweeby Internet streamcast called Market News First (which from the sound of its name might be better suited to cover the Dow Jones or this week's sale at Ralph's)."

It's supposed to be happening today at 3 p.m. PT -- live -- and if you are so inspired you can find it right here. If you miss it live, it'll be there in both taped interview and podcast replay form probably until the end of time or the Internet itself, whichever comes first.

O.J. will be talking to a reporter named Kate Delaney, with the first 30 minutes reportedly dedicated to "scripted questions" and the remaining time to actual genuine authentic real honest-to-God questions from the (alleged) audience -- i.e., off-the-cuff queries that Simpson can address with his very own special scripted evasions/fairy tales.

Why on earth would this man agree to go on the Internet without anything to sell (including his long-stated innocence, whose veracity has long-since been dismissed)? Evidently, when you're O.J., the only thing worse than being a vilified murderer is being ignored altogether. This puts him back in everyone's despised thoughts, however briefly. One other guess: he's trying to capitalize on the popularity of "The Simpsons Movie," hoping somebody will think he's somehow involved. But clearly, if the guy's chatting up some little-known online service based in Dallas, the legit mainstream media will no longer even humor him with token coverage or this interview would be with the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal, or AP. He's been marginalized into an obscure region of cyberspace. Which is at least a start.

Hopefully, by 2009, Simpson will have been reduced to trolling for attention via impromptu streetcorner meeting, followed in 2012 by barking into one of two tin cans attached to a string, followed in 2017 by standing in front of his bathroom mirror conducting Q&A's with his reflection delusion-style and armed with a Mr. Microphone -- followed in 2025 by coverage of his golf outings accompanied by twentysomething bimbettes, exclusively on TMZ.com.

A Slimefest That Promises To Generate Killer Ratings

It's so very reassuring to know that Fox hasn't completely lost touch with its "When Animals Attack"/"Temptation Island"/"Who Wants To Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" tabloid sleaze reality roots. In fact, one might say that the two-part "event" coming to Fox at the end of this month is pretty close to the most unconscionable thing ever conceived on that or any other network. Leave it to the dynamic duo of publisher Judith Regan and Fox reality guru Mike Darnell -- abandoning his recent feel-good penchant for a rousing return to the cesspool -- to center an interview fiasco on O.J. Simpson's sudden non-confession confession in the interest of generating great big huge buckeroos during sweepstime.

Blood money? Ya think?

Here's the press release, then I'll comment further:

JUDITH REGAN’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH O.J. SIMPSON

“O.J. SIMPSON: IF I DID IT, HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED”

TO AIR AS A TWO-PART SPECIAL ON FOX

Special to Air Over Two Nights:

Monday, November 27, and Wednesday, November 29

Over 10 years after he was tried for two murders in the “Trial of the Century” that captured the attention of the world, O.J. Simpson, in his own words, tells for the first time how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes. Noted publisher Judith Regan will talk with Simpson in a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred interview that will be the basis of a two-part special, O.J. SIMPSON: IF I DID IT, HERE’S HOW IT HAPPENED (working title), airing Monday, Nov. 27 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and Wednesday, Nov. 29 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

The Simpson criminal and civil trials captivated people around the world for a decade, and now no topics are off-limits – Simpson has agreed to an unrestricted interview with Regan. In the two-part event, Simpson describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.

"This is an interview that no one thought would ever happen. It’s the definitive last chapter in the Trial of the Century," said Mike Darnell, Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming.

Although acquitted of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, Simpson was later sued in civil court, found responsible for both murders and ordered to pay $33.5 million in restitution to the families of the victims. A decade later, Simpson has written a book that hypothetically describes how the murders would have been committed. “If I Did It” will go on sale Thursday, Nov. 30, under the REGAN imprint.

I mean, the "working title" alone is fairly astonishing for its brazen, callous, utterly clueless disregard for the sensitivities of the survivors and the law of the land. Were I Fox and Regan, the first thing I'd have done would be to at least remove the word "If" from both the cover of the book and the title of the interview (oh right, it's hypothetical). It seems pretty unnecessary now even to couch it, however. So why not just call it, "I Did It, and I Think We All Know How and Why." Or maybe this: "O.J. and Fox: Dancing In the Graveyard." Or, keeping the dance theme, "Dancing With the Scars."

Ah, if only O.J.'s lead attorney Johnnie Cochran had lived to see this, smug defender of his client's racially-charged acquittal that he was.

I don't totally get this, though. What does "If I Did It" even mean? He's going to retrace the steps of the "killer" as if it had been he, imagining what it would have been like and felt like to savagely murder the mother of his children and her friend in cold blood? Try to consider that part alone: Simpson's now-grown kids, seeing this book hit the bestseller lists and a primetime special dragged before the country for them to endure/relive -- with their father gleefully and shamelessly continuing to whore out their mother's memory and whatever's left of his reputation. How completely horrible for them.

It's like you feel the need to take a long, hot shower even blogging about this. Time to crawl back out of the sewer and clean up.

Somewhere, a Cryogenically-Preserved Walt Disney is Nodding in Approval

If ever we were wondering what the statute of limitations is on holding Hollywood megastars accountable for drunken, sexist, anti-Semitic meltdowns, the latest evidence shows that it's just short of two weeks. A scant 13 days after Mel Gibson's tirade in which he allegedly raged that "the Jews are responsible for all of the wars," the Walt Disney Co. on Friday confirmed that Gibson's latest flick "Apocalypto" will indeed be released as planned on Dec. 8.

You would think that the Tirade Heard 'Round the World and subsequent DUI arrest might at least give such a doggedly family-oriented company pause in terms of being in business with the ranter so soon after his trangression. But it turns out that the rumors of Disney's looking to peddle "Apocalypto" to another studio to distance itself from Gibson turned out to be precisely that: rumors and nothing more.

We must remember this is also the company that was founded by a man whose known disdain for those of the Jewish persuasian is reasonably well documented. And while no one is obviously suggesting that the studio today harbors any similar prejudice, there could be a certain sensitivity disconnect when it comes to this issue. It's true that the company squelched a Holocaust project in which Gibson's production company was involved soon after the scandal surfaced. Yet the scuttlebutt there is that Gibson's people continue to lobby Disney/ABC to put it back into development -- and I don't doubt, once the dust clears in a few months, that it could very well happen.

Meanwhile, I have recently run into several people who ask my take on the Gibson situation with the similtaneous judgment, "You're not one of those people who think he should be punished for this, are you?" As if an icon's flagrant hate spew through an alcoholic haze is akin to a contrite rush-hour fender bender after two beers. I'm not saying the guy ought to be persecuted for years, but the shoulder-shrugging minimizing of it so soon after the event -- and the irritation at those who insist on holding him accountable -- is disturbing to say the least.

Mel, We're Not Laughing At You, We're Laughing...OK, Actually It's At You

It's inevitable that innumerable parodies and spoofs done at Mel Gibson's expense will soon surface. But it's certain that none will be better or more genuinely uproarious than this mock film trailer promoting the fictitious new Gibson flick "Mel Gibson's Signs of Anti-Semitism," made for ifilm.com by editor Marcos Levy of VH1's "Best Week Ever" series along with Steven Santos.

Trust me. We're talking instant classic. Oy, my aching ribs.

The Mel Gibson Makeover: 7 Days To a Whole New You!

Think about this one: a week ago at this time, what was the general perception of Mel Gibson? Probably something like this:

1. Christian icon.  2. Hollywood power broker.  3. Devoted family man.  4. Recovering alcoholic.  5. Highly respected filmmaker. 6. Writer of his own ticket.

Now, in not quite 7 days, Gibson has been transformed into this:

1. Anti-Semite.  2. Sexist.  3. Repentant sinner.  4. Scofflaw.  5. Active alcoholic.  6. Hollywood damaged goods.  7. Pathetic joke.  8. Dependent upon kindness/forgiveness of Jewish community to resurrect tainted career.

It's just amazing the difference a week and a few unfortunate tequila-fueled words can make. Gibson should be a huge believer in the vagaries of fate at this point, given how all of the planets had to align just so for this nightmare to play out as it has in creating the perfect tabloid storm. It would all have been different if the arresting deputy didn't have the determination and integrity that he did, or if TMZ.com didn't exist, or if Gibson himself were not so driven by his own demons, hubris and hatred.

While everyone is speculating about how this astonishing turn of events will ultimately play out -- some believing that Gibson and his career are toast, others that he'll have plenty of opportunity for redemption -- the fact is naturally that nobody really knows for sure. There has never been a situation quite like this one involving a man of Gibson's stature. Me personally, I'd have already been much more sympathetic to Gibson had he not simply hidden his apologies behind his publicist and actually faced the music and the TV cameras himself -- even if he had merely read the statement and then slipped out the back door.

What I wonder now is why it seems to matter so much to everyone that Gibson prostrate himself in mea culpas that sound good on the page but likely have little sincerity behind them. What satisfaction should there be in an empty gesture? Perhaps that's Hollywood itself in a nutshell. In the land of smoke and mirrors, perception is permitted to trump reality nearly every time.

The true irony of this whole thing is that Gibson's apologies have represented greater courage than that exhibited by nearly all of the big names in the industry. From what I've noticed, it's as if the entire town suddenly has been struck mute aside from a scant few including Endeavor agent Ari Emmanuel, whose courageous call to reject Gibson and his business has not been seconded, to say the least (though Barbara Walters did notably say on "The View" that she wasn't going to be giving Mel Gibson much business in the future). And Walters' "View" colleague Joy Behar also just chipped in with this nugget. Behar recommends that Gibson demonstrate penance and Jewish solidarity by enduring a "public circumcision." Ouch!

Former Time Warner Vice Chairman Merv Adelson also wonders why the public outrage from executive is somehow missing in action, publicly and passionately coming out against Gibson in a quarter-page ad published in the L.A. Times. Adelson wrote, "Bigots have so often accused our community of being run by Jews that I think it has entered our psyche. We have become so defensive that when faced with a degrading and disgusting incident starring a movie star, we as individuals remain relatively silent. What would this community have done if Mel Gibson had drunkenly ranted and raved about the dirty 'Mexicans' or for that matter used the 'N'-word disparagingly as he used the word Jews...?"

Then there was this sage and profound utterance by Bill Maher taken from the Huffington Post blog, in which Maher accurately states that in the main the world's anti-Semitism is held in check until it is given reason not to (such as Israel's aggressive stand against Hezbollah and getting stopped while driving with a little too much booze in one's system).

Why is showbiz so uncharacteristically mum? Because it remains an industry that thrives on fear. Nobody wants to be the one who publicly excoriated Gibson when and if he gets his life back. By the same token, if they are friends and/or colleagues, they don't fancy being seen as publicly supporting someone whose star has plummeted so far and so rapidly lest the taint wipe itself on their own sleeve. And so everyone buttons up, shakes his or her head and sticks a finger into the air to discern the precise direction in which the wind happens to be blowing before weighing in. Most studio execs also no doubt know they'll need to be working with Gibson at some point, so it behooves them to silently forgive (if not forget). Because as we all know only too well, the bottom line is still the bottom line.

The media, of course, has no such collective allegiance. And so it fires away with both barrels. But it would still be nice io live in a world where one might feel free to opine about the reprehensible behavior of another simply because it's the right thing to do, not merely the politically expedient thing. Then again, maybe it's just a case of "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Now there's a concept that Gibson himself could no doubt get behind.

Oh Mel...Even I'm Starting to Feel Sorry For You Now

 

The Doo-Doo Gets Still Deeper For Misdemeanor Mel

So now Mel Gibson's been charged this afternoon by L.A. County prosecutors with misdemeanor DUI, having an elevated blood-alcohol level and driving with an open container of alcohol. He could serve six months in the pokey if convicted -- though he won't, of course. This isn't exactly a Martha Stewart-type situation. And to be sure, this would seem to be the least of the man's problems right about now.

If I were Gibson, I'd have only one question for whomever is running the DA's office: "Are you a Jew?"

(Graphic courtesy Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)

Melvin, Why Is This Night Different From All Others?

Talk about your atonement ordeals. Mel Gibson, mere hours after reaching out to the Jewish community for forgiveness following his anti-Semitic tirade during last Friday morning's drunken rant heard 'round the world, is already being pitched by at least one local Jewish leader to be a very special High Holiday services speaker. Good ol' TMZ.com confirms that David Baron, the head rabbi at Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills, has officially invited Gibson to be its keynote guest on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which this year begins Oct. 1 at sundown.

This thing just gets more surreal all the time, you know? Imagine Mel Gibson wearing a yarmulke atop his head, reading from the Torah, on the holiest of all days in the Jewish calendar. The mere act of envisioning it is a little bit like an out-of-body experience. And to be sure, were this spectacle to be witnessed by Gibson's father Hutton -- renowned Holocaust denyer that he is -- the man could spontaneously combust on the spot.

Yes, it's already obvious that if Gibson is going to get back in the Jewish community's good graces, he'll have to pay the pauper in time and effort, perhaps swallowing his true nature and feelings all the while. If this isn't the man's worst nightmare, it has to be awfully close.

My Lunchtime Chat About the Gibmeister

This is a transcript of an online discussion surrounding the Mel Gibson situation that I conducted with readers of the Washington Post earlier today. They asked questions. I gave answers. Then we moved on, some of us suddenly afflicted with carpal tunnel syndrome.

By the way, just for the record, in case there is any question while reading the transcript, I happen to be Jewish. Therefore, if I poke stereotypical fun, it should not be mistaken as anti-Semitic but rather self-loathing.

The Mel Gibson 'Won't Get Looped Again' Tour (Day 3)

The Mel Gibson DUI/Naughty Words Washing Machine has already moved through "Wash" and "Rinse" and is now firmly into the "Spin" cycle in the wake of the star's Friday morning massacre. Things are moving very, very fast. I thought there would be announcements of alcohol rehab, of his day-late-and-a-dollar-short plea to the Jewish community in the wake of his anti-Semitic spew at the scene of his drunk driving arrest and of Disney dumping Gibson's ABC Holocaust miniseries. I just didn't figure it would all happen within 48 hours. But you know, when a superstar's career and reputation (not to mention tens of millions of dollars) are at stake, there clearly ain't no time to dawdle.

Welcome to Damage Control Central (soon to be a major motion picture from Jerry Bruckheimer).

Of course, ABC/Disney had to deep-six the Holocaust project pronto. At this point, it would have been like the KKK making a movie about Emmett Till. And while Gibson's "I am not an anti-Semite" declaration this morning brings back fond memories of Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" pronouncement during the heat of Watergate, he had to do it just the same. It's another necessary step on the path to public redemption, riding the Mea Culpa Express as it hurtles down the tracks at breakneck speed. The apology to Jewish groups was accepted today by the Anti-Defamation League.

The last two days, I've been at the center of the media feeding frenzy with regard to Mel's Meltdown and subsequent contrition. The hunter is now officially the hunted. I've been interviewed by CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, KCRW-FM radio, "The Insider," a radio station in Australia, Newsweek.com, the Baltimore Sun and (coming right up) the Washington Post Online. My take has been that whether merited or not, Gibson will survive this for two reasons: Hollywood forgives those who are successful (the greater the success, the greater the latitude to transgress), and America forgives those who apologize (the more completely the soul is bared, the greater the ultimate absolution).

That said, I've been a little surprised at the level of venom directed Gibson's way -- not because what he said should be shrugged off but because this episode, more than any in recent memory, appears to have genuinely struck a raw nerve. I honestly believed that even Jewish executives in town would largely dismiss this as mostly the meaningless ramblings of a drunken rage-a-holic. Now I'm not so sure. While I mean what I said about Gibson surviving this, I'm also now thinking there's a real possibility that things will never again be quite the same for him no matter how heartfelt the pleas for forgiveness.

As a Jew, I don't know that Gibson should be granted full-on amnesty for his verbal crime. Yet that he will be is all but certain. A few months down the road, when the emotion has cooled and the rhetoric died down, I see Gibson moving forward with a decidedly smudged (not fully clean) slate.

At the end of the day, Gibson didn't kill or rape or molest anyone or frankly even injure anyone except his own moral standing -- which naturally took a brutal hit. But we're big on second chances here in the US of A. We like to believe the equation is Sin + Apology = Compassion. Hate the sin, love the sinner. Unfortunately, whether there is any real teeth or honest sincerity behind the stated repentance seems to matter less than the gesture itself. But you can bet that any outreach Gibson makes to the Jewish community is going to come with a stiff pricetag affixed. He's not going to be given a free ride simply because he spouts a few carefully choreographed platitudes. That promises to be Gibson's real penance.

Next up: a major donation to the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (did someone say $5 million?). But first will come the cover of People magazine. It's come to be an essential step on the road to Atonement City.

Another Report From the Scene of the Mel-tdown

The Mel Gibson apologists already have taken to the Internet and blogosphere in earnest to defend the actor and de-facto spiritual figure during a weekend of charges, countercharges, ugliness, explanations and apologies in the wake of his Friday morning DUI arrest. So I thought it prudent to interrupt an otherwise fine Sunday to try to set the record straight, if I may.

1. "There's no real evidence except for a couple of pieces of people snatched by by TMZ.com to prove that Gibson actually uttered anti-Semitic slurs, just the tabloid posturings of an unreliable website."

Reply: This, from Gibson's very own Saturday statement: "I...said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said, and I apologize to anyone who I have offended." Seems pretty clear what/who he's referring to, no?

2. "Gibson had a blood alcohol level of 0.12%, which isn't heavily drunk, just kinda drunk. It may have impaired his driving, but how could it have caused him to start spewing the alleged statements of hate?"

Reply: Very easily, actually. In fact, at that significant but not falling-over level of intoxication, it wouldn't come close to causing a blackout but would be more than sufficient to free Gibson's social inhibitions. And it's been proven that booze doesn't plant thoughts, it simply serves as a lubricant that frees the tongue to utter what's typically bottled up. Drunk or not, if the words ascribed to him are true, this is who the guy is in his heart, I'm afraid.

3.  "Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times that the idea of a cover-up is overblown as it relates to any attempt to alter Gibson's offensive comments in the official L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. report of the incident, and that the only legal issue is over the actor-director's level of impairment at the time he was stopped. Shouldn't that be the case?"

Reply: Actually, yes. Legally, all that's relevant is how much Gibson drank prior to operating a motor vehicle. His words only matter as they relate to his reported resisting of arrest. Baca is correct when he says the department's job isn't to focus on what he said but what he did. And I don't care a whole lot if a report was fudged and a mugshot withheld to help out a famed friend of law enforcement in the area. I'm sure this stuff happens all of the time. However, from a moral standpoint, what Gibson allegedly said during the incident means everything. This goes beyond the sensationalist media grinding an ax.

4. "Hey, Mel gave a full and quick and genuine statement of apology, which is more than a lot of guys would have done. He took immediate responsibility and didn't try to blame anyone else. It's clear he's embarrassed and is begging forgiveness in the finest Christian tradition. Shouldn't that be enough? What do we want, the dude's blood?"

Reply: It's true that Gibson stepped up and did the right thing without a lot of dawdling. But one could also point out that from a career standpoint, it was what he had to do. Anything less would have been suicidal. This is still about damage control. It's about getting this behind him with the least amount of damage to his reputation, which could range from moderate to severe (depending upon how things play out over the next several weeks/months). But an apology doesn't wipe away the words that purportedly exited the man's mouth. He's fortunate to have plenty of time until his new film "Apocalypto" comes out over the holidays to play down this dreadful piece of business with the help of numerous PR professionals. By the time they all get through spinning this, it'll seem in hindsight like Mel was just swearing at himself under his breath while the cops stopped to help him with a flat tire.

5. "Mel will get past this, just you wait. And he'll come back bigger than ever. This isn't a career killer. It may not even be a career wounder. At the end of the day, he didn't hurt anyone but himself. It's just a stumble. Good Christians do it all the time. God grants forgiveness. The rest of us should, too."

Reply: Oh don't worry, we will. There will be the obligatory People magazine cover piece ("I'm Sorry!"), the equally obligatory Diane Sawyer forgiveness-begging interview ("I'm just another recovering alcoholic..."), possibly even a face-to-face primetime browbeat from America's favorite cloying finger-wagger, Dr. Phil McGraw ("What in living hell were you thinking, Mel Gibson?"). The Mea Culpa Express will soon be chugging down the tracks through your very neighborhood!  But trust me that it's probably not even necessary. It's been less than 72 hours since the whole awful scenario played out, and Gibson is already practically forgiven -- in part because he's Mel Gibson. The question isn't whether Hollywood will let this pass. It will. The larger issue -- already practically answered as well -- is if Christianity as a movement will continue to embrace a man prone to drunken anti-Semitic rages as an icon. And again, my guess is yes.

6. "But let's turn this around. What if a renowned Jewish figure -- say, Jerry Seinfeld -- were to similarly disparage Christians in a drunken rage ("I own Encino! And another thing: you bastards can't cook brisket worth a shit!") as Gibson reportedly did Jews. Would he also be quickly forgiven?"

Reply: I'd put the odds at roughly 100-1, against. From what I've seen, anti-Semitism is considered a less serious transgression than Christian-bashing.

(Gibson photo courtesy WireImage.com)

For Mel Gibson, Opining About Jewish Influence While Under the Influence Maybe Isn't the Best Idea

WARNING: Strong language and profanity contained herein.

It's one thing to get pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. It's quite another to be dragged off kicking and screaming in an anti-Semitic rage under the presumption that the Jews have somehow done this to you. Understanding that the man is innocent until proven guilty -- at least, under the old-fashioned notion of justice before the tabloid age rendered it moot -- Mel Gibson could well have done significant damage to his career early Friday morning by spewing a string of profane, anti-Semitic, sexist epithets after being detained for suspicion of drunken driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. But this is probably hardly a secret at this point as you read these words.

If the allegations are in fact true (as they certainly appear to be, particularly after Gibson released a long and apparently deeply sincere statement of apology today), this taint on his reputation probably won't be going away anytime soon. Oh sure, it will eventually. Just about every transgression fades with time unless your name happens to be O.J. But what's most disturbing about this whole mess with Gibson is that it seems to confirm a lot of notions about the man's true feelings of hatred and racist beliefs that had long been whispered. For a dude so sanctimonious and God-fearing, it don't look good.

Based on four pages of an original L.A. County Sheriff's Department report salvaged by TMZ.com from the scrap heap of a reported cover-up, Gibson was uncontrollable and belligerent after getting pulled over, launching into a bout of heavy swearing. There was an apparent episode in which Gibson began to bang himself against the seat and tell the arresting deputy, "You motherfucker, I'm going to fuck you!" There then followed a reported string of anti-Semitic statements, somehow finding a way to blame the Jews. (I doubt arresting officer Deputy James Mee is Jewish, or was put up to it by a Jewish cabal of some sort.)

Gibson reportedly said, "Fucking Jews...The Jews are responsible for all of the wars in the world," echoing a popular anti-Semitic sentiment. (I add here parenthetically that Gibson's father Hutton Gibson has long been a vocal Holocaust denyer renowned for his anti-Jewish rants.) This goes on and on, the arresting law enforcement individuals smartly using audiotape and videotape to corroborate what could prove a dicey legal situation for the department given Gibson's power, money and clout. At one point, he also turned to a female sergeant nearby and reportedly said, "What do you think you're looking at, Sugar Tits?" It's horrifying to hear the episode being described as it continued to escalate even after Gibson was placed in a holding cell.

At the risk of appearing to pile on here, what's most alarming about this meltdown involving Gibson -- an admitted recovering alcoholic -- is the man's profound level of anger, hostility and targeted religious antipathy. And the truth is that under the influence of booze, the tongue is naturally loosened to a great degree but the mind typically merely amplifies, embellishes and exacerbates thoughts and belief systems that are already well established but covered by decorum and correctitude. In other words, alcohol doesn't by itself plant the prejudicial seed. It only helps what's already in the soil to germinate.

Ergo, while Gibson said all of the proper things to dispel charges that "The Passion of the Christ" was anti-Semitic at its core while that film was becoming a blockbuster, this unfortunate episode opens that door wide once again. That Gibson has been able to carve such a spectacularly successful career in a town run largely by Jewish executives given the swirl of anti-Semitic controversy that's long enveloped him is a bit remarkable. And he may well emerge from this bloodied but unbowed and ultimately just fine. But in the short term, the man is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Nearly everyone screws up at one time or another. Mel Gibson is allowed not to be perfect. However, he would be well advised at this point to go out of his way to become a more accepting, less judgmental, more open-minded and inclusive human being. On the other hand, the anti-Semitic stuff probably isn't going to turn the public against him. Too many of Gibson's fans no doubt even agree with him. And I hate to say it, but as long as his box office stays strong, Jewish execs aren't going to hold Mel's feet to the fire for this inebriated anti-Jew spew, either.

But the minute the man's power begins to go south, look out below.

(Mel Gibson photo courtesy WireImage.com.)