These are photos of Mel Gibson entering and leaving the Los Angeles Superior Courthouse on Friday. As I wrote last week, Mel had decided to plead “no contest” to a charge of battery (in the case of punching Oksana Grigorieva in the face), and the plea does not involve jail time. Mel showed up in court to formalize the plea deal, and receive his “sentence” – 16 hours of community service and 52 weeks of counseling, which I guess is what women-beaters get in California. Oh, excuse me, that’s what RICH women-beaters get in California. Californians should be ashamed of their state’s legal system. Also, I have a question about these photos – does Mel Gibson look sane and sober in these pics? Or does he look… unhinged? I’ve been looking at them for ten minutes now, and I’m going with drunk and/or unhinged. Anyway, here’s TMZ’s dick-sucking version of Mel’s plea:
Mel Gibson just entered a plea of no contest to a charge of simple battery … and with a little community service and counseling … it’s like nothing ever happened.
Mel’s no contest plea relates to a domestic situation in which the alleged victim had a child with her. Mel’s entered what’s called a “West Plea” — which means he is allowed to maintain his innocence.
Under the plea agreement, Mel will do NO jail time. He must perform 16 hours of community service with a philanthropic organization, Mending Kids, and undergo 52 weeks of counseling — he’s been seeing a counselor since January but will not get credit for the accrued time.
Beyond that … Mel is required to have only “peaceful contact” with Oksana Grigorieva — it’s the same order he’s under in the family law custody case.
Mel was placed on 36 months informal probation. One of the terms of probation — he cannot use force or violence against anyone. He was also hit with a protective order that gives Oksana the right to record their calls.
Mel’s lawyer, Blair Berk, told the judge her client entered the plea in the interests of his children — so they wouldn’t have to endure a one-year legal fight, and that’s why he entered the plea.
[From TMZ]
Wow, he has to go three full years without beating anyone. I wonder if he’ll be able to do it?!? Anyway, there’s some additional junk that goes along with this, including Oksana allegedly preparing to file a civil suit against Mel… for the battery, I think. I don’t know at this point, Mel and Oksana both have so much pending legal junk against each other, it’s hard to keep up. Go here, to TMZ, to see more.
Oksana’s lawyers did release a statement after Mel’s plea, however. Oksana refused to give a personal statement, but her lawyers told Radar, “The decision of the District Attorney was made after very careful consideration of all the facts and with complete fairness to all involved. During the investigation we cooperated fully. Ms. Grigorieva spoke numerous times with law enforcement. During those interviews she answered every question that she was asked. Ms. Grigorieva submitted releases for confidential information, waived attorney-client privilege and never invoked her Fifth Amendment rights. Ms. Grigorieva will now concentrate on co-parenting Lucia, resuming her charitable work for the children of Chernobyl and moving forward with her life. For these reasons, we have no further comment on this matter.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
“…does Mel Gibson look sane and sober in these pics? Or does he look… unhinged?”
He always looks ‘unhinged’ to me, these days… & up to this point, I wasn’t aware he was using a female lawyer… Gee, you think that was an intentional move on his part? I guess when you’re charged with a mysogenistic ‘offense’, being represented by a woman is a strategy.
& though I don’t think anyone could say Oksana didn’t deserve to make a statement about the woefully inappropriate ‘sentence’ (if one can even call it that… Didn’t Chris Brown get more than that?), I guess they figured it would be more benficial to her not to.
I think he looks drugged. Something is certainly off.
He looks drugged. Like he took a fair amount of sedatives and is not really used to it.
I know that look…
I suspect his lawyer recommended it, lest he order the judge to blow him.
I think going in he looks like he’s trying to hold his head up, but coming out he looks whupped, he looks like everything is catching up with him inside (I hope so,)I think he looks suicidal, depressed. His PR is really pathetic, thinking about his kids “best interest” and he believes he could win? Everybody with a sane mind knows that this disgusting remark from his sleazy attorney and PR came because Sasha is willing to testify and Mel’s kids would be dragged into court to testify against him exposing “secrets” that he has abused his kids and the tapes are authentic and are admissible in court. I guess the “West plea”, no contest plea, was designed for the narcissists; but to me you are saying, “I’m not confessing guilt but sentence me as though I’m gulity.” Really doesn’t make any sense. With the damage done to Mel’s reputation/name and everything if he was “innocent” he would want to go through a trial to clear his name. I think Blair Burke is making herself more a fool and Mel’s PR is making him look worse.
Also, Mel’s publicist was with him at this sentencing and apparently none of his kids were. If his kids believed he is not what he is being characterized as and that he had his kids best interest in mind and that he is innocent his kids would be there to show support. I think that speaks very loudly, Mel’s good image is his “best interest”. Mel flaunted Oks and this baby publicly slapping his wife/kids in the face, publicly humiliating, was he showing any consideration for his kids feelings or best interest then?
I hope Oks wins her lawsuit and collect several millions for it, reward the golddigger and drain the abuser where it hurts $$$$$. I hope this will help Oks with custody and weigh strong against Mel for custody/visitation, I hope he gets stripped of it. If the judge puts a protective order against him for Oks that should apply for the child as well, he hurt the mother he hurt the kids.
I can see Mel in the DV counseling with all these other men who have abused women, him denying and the guys coming down on him for denial. Wonder how long Mel can keep from getting violent with one of those guys?
another rich white celeb gets a pass. how surprising.
He looks old and tired and badly in need of botox.
I doubt he would go to court high on anything that would be traceable in his system.
He got slapped with only 16 hours of community service with “Mending Kids”???? Only 16 hours??
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great organization for helping kids in developing countries by providing surgical care… but wouldn’t it be more relevant for him to do his community service with domestically or culturally abused women?
Even if it was women in other cultures it would at least have a chance of impacting him and possibly working toward healing him where his own issues reside.
I see more problems for Mel down the line involving that protective order allowing Oksana to record calls.
It’s hard to believe he’ll be able to restrain himself from spewing out his hate and no doubt she’ll (rightfully!)record every word he speaks.
I read at TMZ, Mel is going to perform his public service work at the charity run by his “estranged” wife. Aren’t they divorced?
Mel flaunted Oks and this baby publicly slapping his wife/kids in the face, publicly humiliating them by his actions/words, was he showing any consideration for his kids feelings or best interest then? Mel stated, “I’d never do anything to hurt my kids!” (what a performance!) this didn’t hurt his kids? I believe all of his kids are psychologically messed up in the head that they give him BJ’s, his publicist gives him BJ’s, Blair Burke gives him BJ’s, Sheriff’s Dept. gives him BJ’s, I think the DA/court is giving him BJ’s too! No wonder the man is obsessed with BJ’s. He really should have had a much more satisfied look on his face coming out of the court!!
I just think its funny that she is now taking him to civil court and one of her reasons is for “defamation”. Seriously? She defamed herself, and continues to do so, because the only reason now to take him to civil court when he has already taken a plea on the case is to get a paycheck out of him. They both really did deserve each other, poor Lucia one racist daddy and one delusional gold-digging mommy.
@ lizzie I’m glad she’s taking him to civil court and I hope she gets as much money as she can. Mel is a sleazebag that got a very slight slap on the wrist for punching a woman while she was holding a baby. If what Mel claimed about Oksana “extorting” him was true she would be on trial now or there would be leaks about charges being filed against her. Mel and his team put that out there to make her character look bad. It worked for some, but those tapes of Mel overruled whatever they claimed she did, in my book anyway
I am so sorry, I find nothing redeeming about either of them.
I have never seen a dumber gold digger than this girl. Who I don’t see winning much in a civil case.
Nor have a seen a short angry man, get played like he did by her.
The last time I saw a gold digger this stupid, she ended up dead in Robert Blake’s car.
And both of them (women) over played their hand by not listening to their own attorney.
I also suspect that Mel will never lay eyes on this gold digger again. And uses a professional person to do the picking up and dropping off of the daughter. And all calls go through his lawyer.
Nothing positive will come of him ever acknowledging Oksana. Just avoid her.
Eden: you said it “I see more trouble for Mel down the road with Oksana able to record phone”.
If Mel had any sense and if people around him were TRULY looking out for him to help him Mel needs to relinquish his rights over this child and have no contact with her EVER! As long as he has any contact with the child he has contact with Oksana and THERE WILL be hostility come out of him because he hates Oks and it will be an on-going problem, because Mel wants to control and will disagree with whatever decisions Oks makes regarding her child, Mel’s anger/hostility will always be “stirred up” and now it WILL come against him and eventually possibly get him in jail. Oks will be recording and writing everything down because she will ALWAYS have the upper hand because of this child. This child is not a child for him to try to be a father too, if he expects to protect himself then he has to cut this child off.
@ Kaiser – Most of us Californians ARE ashamed of our legal system. It’s a truly disgusting failure.
MG should have to do his community service working with battered women. Let him see what his handy-work could have led to.
@ susieqinBA – MG relinquishing his rights is a great idea, and I would look into it if I were him. But the judge has the final say in whether or not he’s able; it has to be proven to be in the best interest of the child, without consideration of the parents’ feelings.
When is he going to hit rock bottom?
“As long as he has any contact with the child he has contact with Oksana and THERE WILL be hostility come out of him because he hates Oks and it will be an on-going problem and now it WILL come against him and eventually get him in jail. Oks will be recording and writing everything down because she will ALWAYS have the upper hand because of this child.”
This is heartbreaking, but true. Ox will use this kid to get the “upper hand” and continually trying to make Mel look bad, go back to court a million times to bleed more money for herself, while most likely trying to poison the little girl against her dad. Eventually, the baby will grow up to hate BOTH her parents for very different reasons. I feel incredibly sorry for that poor baby. I can’t imagine a worse way to grow up. If Mel is smart, he will NOT deal with Oksana at all. There is no reason for them to talk. Let the nannies do the exchange and have separate freaking birthday parties!
@Hmmmmm
I really don’t think he’s too far from it.The look on his face kinda makes you think that!
I agree Hautie, nothing redeeming about either of them. Though Mel’s an abuser in several ways, I think he’s worse than her. Poor kid.
Slap on the wrist, no surprise. He needs to just do whatever he’s supposed to, and then disappear. I imagine his older kids don’t have much to do with him these days either, he disrespected their mother and family so badly.
I don’t understand this mentality where it’s somewhat excused for assholes to have bad behavior if the women is a gold digger. Who cares if Oksana was a gold digger! These men want some younger tail and wouldn’t get it without being rich. Mel has no excuse for the way he behaved, and I’m just shocked that so many give him one.
I’m torn as to how I feel about Oksana’s civil case. On one hand, the ‘sentence’ Mel got for domestic violence (especially considering he hit his wife while she was holding their child), is a complete joke. A disgusting failure of the legal system… Which makes me feel that he *deserves* to pay for it, literally. It’d be hitting him where it hurts.
On the other, the odds of Oksana winning this… Enough to make it worth the time & trouble, are slim. Like I’ve said, she certainly has her own shortcomings, all of which seem to involve money. I don’t know if the best thing for her & the children is to continue the ‘war’ with their father. (Even if he deserves to reap what he sows, that unfortunately goes both ways.)
@Toot – “I don’t understand this mentality where it’s somewhat excused for assholes to have bad behavior if the women is a gold digger.”
It happens over & over… A basic defense for these sorts of cases is to attack the victim, drag out all of their dirty laundry, in an attempt to make them look worse than the accused.
Someone else in a Charlie Sheen post pointed out that he’s gotten away with his abuse repeatedly… because most of the women were prostitutes or fellow drug addicts… unfortunately, that’s why he was never given the punishment he really deserved.
He got the same sentence Chris Brown got. Both punks should be in jail.
I can’t believe he still gets to see that little girl. That’s the worst part of all of this, to me.
I’d also urge any of you who are at all sympathetic toward battered women to *NOT* view TMZ’s coverage of the case. They have a series of a dozen or so polls, asking readers questions like “who’s the worse influence on Lucia, Oksana or Mel?” And the majority–by which I mean from 75% to 90%–of people answer in favor of Mel. Every damn time.
I’m sorry, but even if — and this is a big IF — Oksana was extorting Mel, that in NO WAY minimizes the physical and psychological abuse he inflicted on her.
I feel like the media was more angry about his anti-Semitic and anti-Hispanic slurs than they ever were about the fact that he bruised and battered the mother of his child, in FRONT OF said child.
This is inexcusable. California courts… and human beings, it seems… sicken me. We live in a culture that blames the victims, a culture that gives women reasons NOT to report rape or abuse.
He looks about 15-20 years older than actually is.What is he doing? Doing drugs and drink and not sleeping at all or what?
@Hautie: I agree. He should definitely have no further contact with her, at least until the emotional scars have healed which could take years.
I just hope we don’t end up with an OJ situation.
@ Kaiser – Most of us Californians ARE ashamed of our legal system. It’s a truly disgusting failure.
Don’t feel too bad the – I live in Canada and this sentence would be par for the course.
It does make you wonder what Wife #1 put up with (and why she considers to support him).
He’s a bitch. Should have gotten more IMO for terrorizing this woman and her son for so long, not to mention to the gross verbal abuse. He did more damage with that than punching her in the face the one time it could have been proven.
The “media” outlets that went along with defaming the victim should hang their heads in shame, yes, YOU TMZ!!! Bullies.
He is a CUNT and an abuser.
Last time I checked going after young women because you have money is not a crime and goldigging, its counterpart isn’t too.
Youth versus money. They were both consenting adults to adhere to that association in sins. If it wasn’t about love, she gave him her youth,body, he gives her money. He can’t complain afterwards while he was receiving during this all time compensantion in nature. You can’t have it both ways.
However what HE did is a CRIME. Mel is a criminal, period. He needed jail time for abusing a woman that he could have killed. He needed jailtime for abusing her in front of their child, he could have hurt her in the process and hurt her anyway by hurting her first parent, the mother. And finally, he needed jailtime and financial compensation given to his stepson for verbally abusing him with his over the top sexually related insults thrown at him, a 12 years old boy. He has damaged the male image of this future man. He is a nasty individual for doing that.
I hope she will win in the civil and hurt him where he needs to be hurt.
No pity for criminals.
@Brittney
I’ve seen the polls on TMZ and I strongly believe they are NOT accurate genuine votes, I’ve seen it on too many of their polls on Mel/Oks the percentage STAYS the same always in favor of Mel. TMZ manipulates the votes and sets the votes to what THEY want people to believe. They are really sick. So, don’t get yourself ruffled up over the votes I think they are all false.
oh my! he totally looks like hes on something…….! :-O
it saddens me to say this, but i suspect we havent seen the worst of this drama yet… i sense that something BIG and BAD has yet to hit the fan!!
I can’t remember what Chris Brown got for beating Rhianna. I seem to think it was just probabtion/awareness class/community service too…
unfortunately, his sentence is pretty much the standard for a first offense. Gah, I loathe this man.
The face of a downward Sheen spiral.
‘Californians should be ashamed of their state’s legal system’
That’s a Bingo!
OMG – I didn’t realize at all the gravity of a TMZ poll. Amazing.
Didn’t say the polls had gravity, just that they’re depressing (and, yes, enraging)… IF in fact they reflect the majority of people who view such a popular site. Significance is relative, and if you’re on a gossip site, then celebrity news must not be 100% trivial and insignificant to you.
Rich people get away with horrible sh!t everywhere. Look at the Kennedys.
The things I’ve seen others mention here brought up that Mel (or one of his representatives) insisted that he’d NEVER harm his children.
He’d never harm his child… But he threw a punch… at the woman holding his child. Imagine what that had to like for her, listening to a terrifying, violent screaming match, then being a few inches away from his fist when he struck her mother.
Doesn’t he still have 50/50 custody? If he’d get drunk & treat the mother that way, there’s HUGE risk that he’ll abuse his daughter the same way. He loses control of himself, who knows what would happen if she was the only one around for him to take his rage out on. He shouldn’t be given the opportunity to make what damage he’s already done worse.
How can they allow this? Our ‘child welfare’ system is just as fucked up as our criminal courts.
Too bad they can’t deport her for taking advantage of stupid old pigs.
Considering what Charlie Sheen got for holding a knife to the throat of his wife, Mel Gibson’s punishment sounds about right (not as in good but as in comparable).
I’m still a little confused as to their history and what was confirmed etc. I find her as repugnant as him. If her civil trial involves a jury she may have an uphill battle.
Have a feeling Mel will be avoiding phone calls with Oksie like the plague.
Well written kaiser. Agree with you, as usual.
He should have gotten a reward!!!!!!!
I still don´t understand why TMZ supports him so much.What is Harvey reason? Could anybody explain it to me,please?
I feel bad for the baby too. How very very sad.
Broken. That’s what he looks like; but he is getting off WAY too lightly and he knows it.
@ the original bellaluna, I totally agree, he SHOULD do his time working with battered women, this would MAYBE waken him up a little to his repugnant actions, and also, just maybe, one of them would take a swift pop at him!
Ps: Anyone else think that what with the quiff [hello?], the collar and the Goodfella’s sweat, he looks like a throwback from some dodgy 70’s copshow?
Oh Mel, when did you become such an idiot.
I’m not surprised at all. However, even though he’s getting a pass now…his career isn’t. Oh, and I have the feeling he will screw things up again.
I still don´t understand why TMZ supports him so much.What is Harvey reason? Could anybody explain it to me,please?
I don’t think they love Mel, just see through Oksana for the opportunist she is. If you look back, there are plenty of negative Mel stories on TMZ and a bazillion references to past sins. Hell, they made their name by breaking the story drunk driving/hate spewing rant of his and releasing the real arrest report online.
He seems like he got what they all get for the same crime and more than Sheen has gotten for his multiple beat downs on wives and prostitutes. Where’s his community service/trial/probation or anything?
I still don´t understand why TMZ supports him so much.What is Harvey reason? Could anybody explain it to me,please?
@ Whatever:
They (at TMZ) were probably jealous when Radar Online broke the story about the taped racist rants so they chose to back him up (or his PR team chose TMZ for that). Had they have the “exclusive” they would have been after his ass — like they did when he was arrested for DUI.
Question: What (paraphrase-no need for specifics) did Mel say/do to Oksana’s son?
Jez Mel – have another cigarette.
“I totally agree, he SHOULD do his time working with battered women”
haven’t battered women suffered enough? i’m sure they would be thrilled to work with a violent misogynist. mel should have to serve his time picking up trash by the side of the road or cleaning honey buckets. 16 hours isn’t going to teach him anything, so make it as nasty a job as possible.
He definitely should NOT be working with battered women. Those women have had enough to deal with. He doesn’t care about women and seeing their pain won’t teach him a thing. It’ll only scare those women knowing that he has gotten physical.
One question, didn’t Brown get hundreds of hours of communtiy service? I ask because TMZ is all over this idea that Mel had to be given this because Brown wasn’t jailed, yet they don’t question the fact that he has a mere 16 hours of community service. Mel, changing communities with a whole two days of work!
I’m with Original Kate & Crystalline, on the issue of where Mel *shouldn’t* be doing his community service.
The idea of his being made to work with battered women (to gain insight into what he did to his wife/family) is understandable, & obviously a good intentioned thought. But as the others have mentioned… Being around a man they KNOW is violent & abusive, (the way their significant other/family member harmed them…) Would likely do much more harm than good. (& I may be wrong, but it was my understanding that in most cases, battered women feel much safer & more comfortable being helped by other women in this case.)
He *should* be given insight into what affect abusive behavior has on women & families, however. The therapy sessions should force him to confront that, at least through reading, or watching interviews with women who’ve been through it. But this ‘punishment’ sounds more like a ‘suggestion’ than a ‘sentence’. Disgraceful.
All the cigarettes, booze, and beating women’s asses has aged him. He looks like the devil.