who’s been essentially mum since tapes of him ranting at Oksana
Grigorieva were leaked last summer, has finally broken his silence,
referring to the recordings as “one terribly awful moment in time, said
to one person, in the span of one day,” and something that “doesn’t
represent what I truly believe or how I’ve treated people my entire
life.”
He also said he didn’t care if he ever acted again.
In the Deadline Hollywood interview, coming as the
May release of “The Beaver” looms, Gibson expressed regret and anger at
himself but also held his ground about what people heard.
“You have to put it all in the proper context of
being in an irrationally heated discussion at the height of a
breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship,” he
said.
The tapes, dramatically released one by one over the
span of more than a week last July, eventually were revealed as having
come from one day’s continuing argument. He told Deadline that the
tapes had been edited.
“You find out who your friends are,” Gibson said, including
But he said he’s not bothered by the short list of
public defenders. “Why would anyone want to speak publicly and drag
themselves through this crap?” he noted. “It seems to add fuel to the
fire.”
Fans who hope to see Gibson on screen down the line
can breathe easier — while the phrases “move on” and “let it go”
peppered his reaction to being awkwardly let go from “The Hangover II,”
he was enthusiastic about his upcoming project with “Braveheart”
screenwriter
“It’s total bodice-ripping, swashbuckling stuff, but
it’s funny,” he said. “It’s funny, and yet it’s got really good serious
undertones too.”
About what has happened and what is still pending
between him and ex-girlfriend Grigorieva and the legal system in the
wake of his no-contest plea to a charge of misdemeanor domestic
violence, the actor continued to have little to say.
“Even if the judge hadn’t put some kind of court
order on me, I think I’d stay mum on a lot of these things just out of
consideration for Lucia and my other children and my grandchildren and
friends and family. It doesn’t do any good.” Lucia is Gibson’s
18-month-old daughter with Grigorieva.
“Maybe, when this is all over and, hopefully,
justice is achieved. Maybe I could say something. … a lot of damage
has been done. I don’t want to add to it. “
“The Beaver,” filmed in 2009 before the scandal broke, comes out on
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