He did make racist and misogynistic remarks

but

It’s the Duke University Lacrosse team…”

but:

Not that Mel is blameless

Can’t have it both ways. He’s either blameless or he’s not. You’re both trying to excuse his vile behavior—because you “read somewhere that Mel is manic-depressive”—and at the same time saying he never actually did those things. That’s not logical.

Unless you believe the tape is entirely a hoax and it’s not Mel Gibson at all, what’s on it on it MORE than supports PhDork’s assertion that he is “violent, misogynist, racist, hate-filled, and utterly contemptible.” He made those disgusting statements, he told her she “deserved it” when he punched her in the face, and he threatened to kill her.

And I don’t care if he’s manic depressive or not. Being an addict or mentally ill doesn’t give someone the right to abuse their partner or give them a free pass once they do it.

He did make racist and misogynistic remarks, but the evidence that he is a physically abuser is rapidly vanishing.

His wife, well known as a woman of integrity, has testified that he never lifted a hand to her or her kids in their thirty years of marriage, and was a loving father.

Meanwhile evidence has emerged that the tapes were digitally altered and Oksana’s dentist, who initially supported her claims of violent abuse, now says that she is lying, and the photo she has issued of her supposedly broken teeth is a fake.

It’s the Duke University Lacrosse team case all over again. Amazing how many people were demanding his head on a platter before all the evidence. There are some who are convinced that a man is by nature a predator and a woman by nature a victim.

Not that Mel is blameless. However much those tapes may have been edited, the raw material suggests someone with severe mental illness. I remember hearing somewhere that Mel is manic-depressive. It’s a terrible affliction that can bring out the worst in otherwise good people.

there, fixed.

Basically about how Gibson’s core was always this scary craziness but that that very craziness magnified as charisma on the big screen made him a star. In other words the piece argued you can’t really say ‘oh i liked him but now pearls clutch, he’s a terrible man’ because on some level that instability was always present it’s just that people chose to not see it when he was a success.

Yet, at the same time, the writer argued that he wouldn’t have been a success without it and that people knew that but didn’t care while he was hot.

I can’t un-buy my JB recordings, and I obviously can’t go see him in concert any more, so those ships have sailed, but I do try to vote with my dollar. And I’m generally very wary of idol-worship of any sort.