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Mel Gibson recently praised his former co-star and friend Robert Downey Jr. for the “bold generosity” he displayed in having Gibson’s back during his many career controversies.
Speaking to Esquire for a cover story about Downey Jr., the Lethal Weapon actor and Oscar-winning Braveheart director explained how RDJ — who knows a thing or two about Hollywood controversies — “stood up and spoke up” for him during a point where his career what at his lowest.
“One time, I got into a bit of a sticky situation where it kind of ended my career. I was drunk in the back of a police car and I said some stupid s—, and all of a sudden: blacklisted,” Gibson said.
“I’m the poster boy for canceled. A couple of years into that [Robert] invited me to some kind of award he was getting—we always had this kind of seesaw thing, where if he was on the wagon, I was falling off, and if I was on the wagon, he was falling off. So I was pretty much nonexistent in Hollywood at the time, and he stood up and spoke for me. It was a bold and generous and kind gesture. I loved him for that.”
The difference between Downey Jr.’s and Gibson’s controversies, however, was that while Downey’s were self-destructive, Gibson’s were hurtful and hateful to communities that were not his own.
In 2006, while being arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles, Gibson went on an antisemitic tirade to the arresting officer, saying “F—— Jews… the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?”
Then, in 2010, Gibson — in a message to his partner Oksana Grigorieva — used the phrase “raped by a pack of n——.”
While Gibson’s career hasn’t been rehabilitated to the extent of Downey Jr’s — as he’s spent the last 15 or so years as one of the biggest movie stars in the business in addition to now being an Academy Award-winning actor — his film Hacksaw Ridge was nominated for Best Picture in 2016.
Gibson’s acting career, on the other hand, has consisted of largely B movies over the last decade, with exceptions such as The Expendables 3 and Daddy’s Home 2.
Most recently, Gibson directed the film Flight Risk, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Topher Grace, and Michelle Dockery, and does not have an official release date at this time.