Mel Gibson: Curse of the gab

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Published Apr 12, 2012

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Mel Gibson says John Lennon deserved to be shot, and called Jewish people “oven-dodgers”.

So claims Joe Eszterhas, the Hungarian-American writer who achieved fame with his work on the erotic films Basic Instinct and Showgirls. Eszterhas , who worked as a screenwriter on the failed film project ‘The Maccabees’ with Gibson, lashed out at the ‘Lethal Weapon’ star in a scathing nine-page letter.

In the document, obtained by Hollywood gossip site The Wrap, Eszterhas claims Gibson once said of Beatles legend John Lennon: “I'm glad he's dead. He deserved to be shot. He was f**king messianic. Listen to his songs! Imagine. I hate that f**king song. I'm glad he's dead.”

He further claims that Gibson had a vicious go at his ex-wife Oksana Grigorieva, who he had entered into a dirty divorce and custody battle with last year. “I want to f**k her in the ass and stab her while I'm doing it,” said Gibson, allegedly.

But, according to Eszterhas, Gibson saved most of his vitriol for Jews. The screenwriter believes Gibson set out to sabotage the ‘Maccabees’ project, a film based on the life of the biblical hero Judah Maccabee.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason you won’t make ‘The Maccabees’ is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews,” states Eszterhas.

“You continually called Jews 'Hebes' and 'oven-dodgers' and 'Jewboys.' It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked 'He’s a Hebe, isn’t he?' You said most 'gatekeepers' of American companies were 'Hebes' who 'controlled their bosses’.”

“You said the Holocaust was 'mostly a lot of horses**t'. You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, ... you insisted 'it's in the Torah – it's in there!' (It isn't).”

Eszterhas further claims that Gibson was only interested in making ‘The Maccabees’ so that he could “convert the Jews to Christianity”.

Gibson, however, has penned a letter of his own to Eszterhas, claiming that the real reason the film failed to get off the ground was that Eszterhas’ script was terrible. According to gossip site TMZ, Gibson says: “Not only was the script delivered later than you promised, both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time”.

Gibson does not directly address the claims of anti-semitism in Eszterhas’ letter, but does write: “I will say that the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications.” - IOL

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