What Does the Future Hold for Mel Gibson?

With his box office hit movies like Braveheart and The Passion Of The Christ, the ever popular Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Mel Gibson was as much a part of Hollywood as any actor or director there, but then things began to break down...

First, it was his drunken anti-semitic outbreaks, which caused him to lose a number of friends in the movie industry, but the latest scandal, involving the much publicized recordings of him ranting at his girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, are threatening to bring his career in Tinseltown to an end.

The recordings, which show Mel Gibson using a whole string of threats and abuse against his girlfriend, indicate that he has some serious mental problems, but as the story has unraveled, there is also evidence that his girlfriend might be using these to try and obtain money from him.

So far Mel Gibson has not commented on the tapes and their content, but with it sounding as if these recordings could have been faked or at least doctored, maybe it has been all too easy to point a finger at him, based on past experience.

If the allegations that he hit his girlfriend are true, could this mean the end of Mel Gibson's career in Hollywood?

According to director Oliver Stone in an interview with the BBC, he thinks that the public would forgive him - in time.

But in an article in the Hollywood Reporter, Andrew Wallenstein thinks that Mel Gibson's career is far from being over. He said:

"As bad as things look now for Gibson, in time his misdeeds will fade into the rich tapestry of misbehavior woven by the pantheon of American celebrities."

"Given the frequency with which celebrity scandal is reported, you cannot underestimate how numb the public is to all of this."

In the past, friends in Hollywood have supported him, but this time the Hollywood movie community seems to be very quiet when it comes to Mel Gibson.

One friend who has spoken to the press, Whoopi Goldberg, said:

"I don't like what he did here, but I know Mel and I know he's not a racist," she said."

"I have had a long friendship with Mel. You can see he's being a bonehead, but I can't say that he's a racist, having spent time with him in my home with my kids."

Much will depend on the results of X-rays that were taken on January 8th, when Mel Gibson's girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva went to a pediatrician claiming that she was having headaches. She told the doctor that here eyes were not acting right, and he ordered X-rays to be taken.

It remains a mystery however, why she chose to go to a pediatrician, who by the way was not her children's doctor, and not to her own doctor, or to an optician.

It does sound rather suspicious.

The X-rays may turn out to be an important factor in this case, since the previous day Oksana Grigorieva went to see a dentist, and he has given conflicting evidence about her claims that she was hit in the mouth.

Oksana claimed that she had been hit in both the head and the mouth, but refused to tell the dentist and pediatrician who had hit her.

The plot thickens as they say...

See Also:

Is Mel Gibson Mad (Insane) or Just Mad (Angry)?
The more you read about Mel Gibson's crazed rantings at girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, new revelations that she agreed to a $15 million deal to keep the tapes secret, and then his plans to return to Australia with his ex-wife. It makes you wonder...

Oksana Grigorieva "Mel Gibson Bruised Our Two Month Old Daughter"
Oksana Grigorieva, girlfriend of Mel Gibson and mother of his daughter, claims that she has photographs proving he bruised her during a blazing row in January, when the baby was two months old.

New Mel Gibson Rant Tape Leaked to Internet Read Transcript
Reports have come in today of a fourth tape that has been leaked to the Internet, with actor Mel Gibson threatening to burn the house because his ex fell asleep without giving him sex.

Sources:

BBC News

TMZ