Some celebrities use their American Cinematheque Award celebration to highlight some cause that they’re involved with – like Matt Damon. When Matt was recognized with the lifetime achievement award, he used the moment to highlight his work in Africa. Other celebrities use the award ceremony as just a fun night with friends. And then there’s Robert Downey Jr., who used his night to highlight his special cause: being friends with Mel Gibson. Mel was at RDJ’s American Cinematheque ceremony – not only that, but Mel posed with RDJ, they buddied up for the cameras, and RDJ passionately defended Mel in his speech.

Now, before this, RDJ has shown public signs of his support of Mel. He “refused to criticize” Mel (and Charlie Sheen), basically claiming that he (RDJ) has a very sketchy past, and he’s not going to judge other dudes for their sketchiness. It wasn’t a passionate defense, and for the most part, Robert has avoided the kind of gross-by-association taint that Jodie Foster has gotten with her relationship to Mel. I talked about the difference in the situations previously. But now something has changed – RDJ just put his reputation, his backing, his support fully behind the dude who will demand a beej before he kills you and buries you in the garden.

Mel Gibson has a real friend in Robert Downey Jr. Friday night Downey, 46, accepted an American Cinematheque Award in Beverly Hills, and the actor used his time on stage to ask Hollywood to forgive Gibson, 55.

“Unless you are without sin — and if you are, you are in the wrong f**king industry — you should forgive him and let him work,” the Iron Man star said.

Downey, who famously struggled with substance abuse himself in the past, costarred with Gibson in the 1990 film Air America. “He taught me many things, and I will use the ‘C’ word — courage,” Downey said. “There’s nothing so much wrong with him. Of course you have to worry about the guy making the judgment here. He’s a good dude with a good heart.

Gibson has been open about his battle with alcoholism; throughout the years he has been repeatedly taped making offensive, anti-Semitic remarks, including a drunken rant during a 2006 arrest in Malibu. In March, he pled no contest for one misdemeanor count of spousal battery, related to a Jan. 6, 2010 incident with his ex Oksana Grigorieva. During the pair’s custody case for their 23-month-old daughter Lucia, Gibson admitted, “I slapped Oksana with an open hand in an attempt to bring her back to reality.”

But Downey, who is proudly clean and sober today, isn’t about to judge Gibson. “Mel and I have the same lawyer, same publicist, and same shrink. I couldn’t get hired and he cast me,” Downey said. “He said if I accepted responsibility — he called it hugging the cactus — long enough, my life would take meaning. And if he helped me, I would help the next guy. But it was not reasonable to expect the next guy would be him.”

[From Us Weekly]

I have such mixed feelings. Ugh. On one side, I know that Robert truly feels beholden to Mel, and like there’s a debt that Robert still needs to repay. I think RDJ found his decency in sobriety, and he believes that people can change, can become better and whole, and that everyone derives a second chance. Those are noble things to believe in, and it makes him a good person, worthy of admiration and emulation. On the other side… Robert just stood up for a dude who fist beat the crap out of his girlfriend (and her son), then stalked, harassed and threatened the girlfriend when she dared to leave him. That sucks, for lack of a better word.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

It’s been well over two years, but the (amazingly) low-key divorce battle between Mel and Robyn Gibson has finally reached a conclusion. Back in April 2009, Robyn, filed with the help of her lawyer, “disso-queen Laura Wasser,” and after a series of lengthy and highly private deliberations, TMZ is reporting that the couple has finally “reached full agreement on the terms of their divorce … in particular, the property settlement.” While the divorce won’t be official until August, the huge question on everyone’s mind is exactly how much Robyn’s settlement will be worth. Back when news broke of Mel’s affair with Oksana Grigorieva, the Enquirer initially pegged Mel’s worth at a potential $900 million.

According to CelebrityNetWorth, Gibson’s worth is still rumored to be $900 million (and possibly more if one considers the additional royalties that have inevitably rolled in over the past few years). If this number is correct, Robyn should get half of that amount in a property settlement because California is a 50/50 state. Certainly, Robyn deserves all of that after being married to Mad Mel since 1980, bearing seven of his children, and putting up with his publicly (and, no doubt, privately) embarrassing crap. Further, Robyn functioned as his emotional support as Mel’s star rose (and fell) in Hollywood and even stood by him through the “Sugartits” incident. Despite enduring years of rumors surrounding her husband’s infidelity, she hung on until the final, eventual humiliation of learning about her husband’s mistress through a tabloid. The LA Times puts together a few more details in chronological order:

Mel Gibson and estranged wife Robyn Moore have nailed down details in their long-running divorce case, slamming the door on those romantics who may have held out hope that post-Oksana Grigorieva, the parents of seven — wait, he’s a parent of eight — might reconcile.

OK, “those romantics” were no doubt few and far between — especially given recent reports that Mel, 55, has a new “friendly acquaintance,” Stella Mouzi, a 25-year-old fetish model who hails from Greece. (Have a type much, Braveheart?)

Attorneys told an L.A. judge Tuesday that Robyn and Mel had finally worked out a settlement regarding division of property and other assets valued at $900 million before the real estate crash, though no details were released. The divorce is expected to be finalized in August.

After 28 years of marriage, Robyn filed for divorce in April 2009, right about the time news broke that Grigorieva was pregnant with Mel’s baby (Lucia was born that November). Mel said at the time that his marriage had effectively ended three years earlier.

Mel and Oksana subsequently ended their relationship quietly, with a breakup that began in April 2010, went through a few rough spots, and then calmly drew to a close in March when he entered a no-contest plea to misdemeanor battery and she learned that extortion charges against her would not be pursued.

[From LA Times]

Even if Robyn gets the expected $450 million, and Mel presumably gets to keep $450,000,000 a lot of the assets on both sides will undoubtedly be tied up in real estate. Still, Robyn should receive enough (with extra in terms of child support) to keep her liquid for the rest of her life. Mel, however, may not be quite so lucky, for he’s also paying $20,000 per month (plus a reportedly additional $6000 for a mortgage) to Oksana. Surely, Mel won’t ever find himself in a state of poverty, but he’ll probably have to significantly dial down his lifestyle at some point. No more buying islands in Fiji, right? Poor Sugartits.

Photo of Robin Gibson in 1999 (while pregnant with she and Mel’s seventh child) courtesy of Fame; photos of Mel pulling faces this year at Cannes courtesy of WENN

The Cannes International Film Festival rages on with the The Beaver photocall, for which director and actress Jodie Foster was front and present but her co-star, Mel Gibson, was quite notably absent in spite of the fact that he was reportedly expected to attend. Surely, Jodie is fine with the fact that Mel was not present at the photocall because, no matter what, she’ll always love that man for the rest of her life even though he’s left her to deal with this mess all by herself.

Obviously, I have to wonder whether the woman even has a grasp on reality any longer. Not only does Jodie have poor taste in male associates, but she dared to describe the lower percentage of female directors as “race psychology,” yet she herself (despite being a woman) convinced a studio to give her $20 million of funding to make a movie about a guy who talks through a puppet. Indeed, the film has already received a U.S. limited release, for which it only brought in a measly $104,000 from 22 theaters. So it seems that Mel’s recent extensive, self-piting interview didn’t help sell tickets, and he’s sitting this one out like a pouting child:

Mel Gibson’s absence from the press conference supporting his new film did not stop him dominating proceedings.

The actor plays a depressed businessman who uses a beaver hand puppet to communicate in The Beaver, which is directed by his co-star Jodie Foster who attended the press conference in Cannes.

The actress, who has been friends with Gibson since they starred in the 1994 western Maverick, faced a barrage of questions about the actor who has been accused of racism, homophobia and anti-semitism and appeared in court this year on a battery charge after a complaint from ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

But she insisted the troubled star, who is due in Cannes today to appear at tonight’s screening of the film, “was the right actor for the role” and had “a deep understanding of the struggles” faced by the character.

She said: “He really understood the character in a way that was extraordinary. I think that he was willing to go to such a deep place and willing to expose himself in some ways, to really talk about something he knows a lot about which is struggle, wanting to change, wanting to transform yourself, not wanting to be who you are and I’m so grateful for that performance”.

Asked if the film would help rehabilitate him in the eyes of the public and in Hollywood, she said: “I don’t know, I have no idea.”

Foster added: “Anything that you do that you obsess about and think about and give that much to for six months of your life in his case… allows you to look deeper at yourself and the people around you and the effect of what you do and has to have some kind of therapeutic, cathartic end.

“I know that he is incredibly proud of the movie and I think that he is proud of what he’s shown and I think he wants people to see that side of him and he’s an incredibly private man so what he shows on screen is deep as you could possibly get”.

[From The Independent]

Perhaps Jodie and Mel talked this over beforehand and decided it would be best for him not to attend and distract from the topic at hand. However, it’s pretty clear that Mel distracts from The Beaver whether or not he’s actually present; so if he is truly so “incredibly proud” of this movie, the very least he could have done is to establish a presence and show some support for his unyieldingly loyal friend, co-star, and director. What a douche move, but there’s a slim chance that he might actually show up for the premiere itself. Admittedly, Jodie wasn’t completely alone for the photocall and press conferences because Kyle Killen and Keith Redmon bothered to show up. Her co-star, however, is another matter altogether.

Photos courtest of WENN

I kind of love that Winona Ryder has been doing so much press for Black Swan, and for her upcoming role in The Dilemma, which comes out shortly. Our Winona is no longer a cover girl – at least for the major magazines. But she’s been making some appearances in several magazines lately, and she’s in the new January issue of GQ (full piece here). Winona says much of the same stuff she said to Elle. But I’m lapping it up anyway. The best parts are where she tells a really awesome/horrible Mel Gibson story, and when she alludes to her pill addiction. Here are the highlights:

The Mel Gibson story: “I remember, like, fifteen years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk. I was with my friend, who’s gay. He made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about ‘oven dodgers,’ but I didn’t get it. I’d never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, ‘He’s anti-Semitic and he’s homophobic.’ No one believed me!”

On her role as the fading star ballerina in Black Swan: “I thought it was a cool parallel,” she says. “Being replaced by the young thing. I know that definitely happens in Hollywood. It’s harder to find good roles, and suddenly there’s new girls. I’m at that age I’ve been warned my whole life about.”

All she’ll say about Johnny Depp: When she does allude to the elephants, it’s in passing, as if I wouldn’t know they’re there—she says things like “My first relationship was very public” (you don’t say!) and bats a set of eyelashes as dark and lush as marabou dipped in squid ink, then moves on, and if it’s a gambit it’s working pretty well so far, honestly.

On being out of touch: Ryder has been talking about certain aspects of contemporary culture that confuse her, as if she’s a time traveler—which she kind of is! From the last century! She’s still figuring out how to work her iPhone. She talks about TMZ but calls it TZM. She doesn’t know who Justin Bieber is.

On pill addictions and rehab: She says she’s never seen a reality-TV show, and she seems genuinely puzzled and horrified by the existence of Celebrity Rehab. “I mean, who would want to go through that, on TV?” she says. We spend a few surreal minutes explaining Celebrity Rehab to Winona; the paradoxical way Dr. Drew helps patients mind-warped by fame with everything that’s wrong with them except their desire to be famous; the ongoing struggles of Jeff Conaway, who played Kenickie in Grease, then resurfaced in Dr. Drew’s clinic, undergoing chew-your-arm-off withdrawal from painkillers in front of VH1′s cameras. “Yeah,” Winona says, “those things. I think they’re more powerful than people think. People think, ‘Oh, heroin’s the hardest,’ but pills can be… ” Didn’t you have sort of a moment with those? “I did,” she says, “but it was—I broke my arm in two places.” (This was in 2001, on the set of the Adam Sandler movie Mr. Deeds.) “For about a month, I had to take it. But then I just kept taking it for, like… maybe three more weeks. But the thing I do remember is that once my arm was okay and they were still there, you kind of like… ”

More on the pills, and the shoplifting incident: What I want to say is, Wait a minute. According to a probation report archived at the Smoking Gun’s Web site, when Ryder was arrested, police found a syringe, bottles of Demerol and diazepam, six Valiums, forty Vicoprofens, two Vicodins, two Percocets, a Percodan, and a morphine-sulfate capsule in her purse. In 2002, a Dr. Feelgood type named Jules Lusman had his license pulled by the Medical Board of California after an investigation determined that he’d “prescribed or administered controlled substances without good faith exams” to clients like Courtney Love and “E. T.,” which was short for “Emily Thompson,” Ryder’s prescription-pad alias. In an August 2007 Vogue cover story, Ryder actually blamed the whole shoplifting situation on pill-related “confusion.”

On Meryl Streep and aging in the industry: “It’s hard to imagine a time where Meryl Streep wasn’t the first choice for everything,” Ryder says, “but I was reading some article, and she said something like, ‘Yeah, when I was around 38, 39, I turned to my husband and said, “Should we just call it a day, or should we try to kick the can down the road?” ‘ It was so weird to me to think about movies without her in them. But a lot of great actresses have chosen that.” She’s thought about it. She wants to have kids. It’s the only thing that scares her about getting older, the thought of missing that window, and the other side of it: “If I wanted to have a family now, would I be able to come back to work in a couple of years?”

[From GQ]

I love the Mel Gibson story. I love that she told it. I love that she’s a gossip about other celebrities, but she’s still reticent about her own junk. I even kind of love the way she blows off her pill addiction. For the record, I think she’s probably clean now, and for Winona, I believe that it’s her business and if she doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I’m tired of people still beating up on her over the pills and the shoplifting. It’s been nearly a decade – let it go.

Photos courtesy of GQ. GQ‘s slideshow here.

According to TMZ, Mel Gibson’s ex girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, has been receiving death threats in the light of the release of telephone tapes in which Gibson admits hitting her and threatens her with violence and death. Grigorieva denies releasing the audio, but even if she’s fibbing or is skating on a technicality (i.e. someone releasing them on her behalf) most of us don’t blame her for making them public. As many of you have pointed out, she seems to have legitimately feared for her life and to want to get the word out that Mel was threatening her. If he did hit her and knock out her teeth as she claims (and as he practically admits in the phone call) she may want to make sure she’s protected from the guy. As we’ve seen from so many murder cases, police and a restraining order cannot protect victims.

TMZ has learned Oksana Grigorieva received threatening phone calls Tuesday that “scared her to death.”

Sources tell TMZ at least one of the calls “could be interpreted as a death threat.”

We’re told there were multiple calls and at least two appeared to be from the same caller. We’re told the callers were angry about her accusations against Mel Gibson.

And, sources say, the LAPD has been contacted.

[From TMZ]

I hope she’s ok and that she has someone staying with her to protect her. As I’ve said before, for all of you blaming Oksana I feel very sorry for you. Inevitably those type of stories have the caveat “my dad/husband is like that, BUT.” BUT please talk to someone and realize that you do not deserve to be treated like that. There are ways to get out. I’m astonished that anyone could listen to these phone calls and think that this is somehow normal or just how people argue. It’s not, it’s insane, and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life.

There’s some question about the timeline of Mel’s abuse and when Oksana both reported her injuries to police and took out a restraining order. The phone calls were recorded in January, and the restraining order wasn’t taken out until June. Studies have shown that victims return to their abusers an average of 7-8 times before leaving. Just because we’re talking about a rich movie star and a savvy foreign musician with the sense to record his abuse it doesn’t mean it wasn’t typical or that she wasn’t a victim. She probably put up with months more of this sh*t before she finally realized that she had to get out or risk her and her daughter’s life.

Everyone is wondering if Mel’s career is completely in the sh*tter after all this. It probably is. ET has an interesting interview with a journalist from Zap2It.com talking about where Mel can go from here. She astutely points out that Mel really needs to issue a sincere, thorough, genuine mea culpa and explain what was going on in his alcohol-muddled brain. So far all we’ve heard is that he’s in therapy and is “coping as well as can be expected” now that we’ve all found out that he bashed his girlfriend’s face in and threatened to kill her.

Like clockwork, Radar Online has just released a whopping fourth segment of Mel Gibson going on a scary evil rant against the woman he once claimed to love. It just came out when I was about to publish all this, and Kaiser will report on it shortly.

A Chicago reporter asked Mel Gibson if he felt like he was a better person than he was four or five years ago and Mel answered the question loud and clear – by calling the guy an a**hole when he thought he was off camera. Mel said at first “I think I’m the same person I always was” and added something about how time changes people. When reporter Dean Richards pressed a little and asked “Do you think the public will perceive you any differently after all that’s been in the news about you?” Mel rolled his eyes and asked “What are you referring to specifically?”

Richards then explained the obvious, saying “Referring to the drinking problems, referring to what’s been called the anti-semitic rant…. you know what I’m talking about.”

Gibson got defensive and arrogant and said “That’s almost four years ago, dude. I’ve moved on I guess you haven’t.”

Richards didn’t back down and calmly asked “I’m just wondering if you think the public has moved on and will perceive you in the same light.”

“Well I certainly hope so. It is a while back. I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas. So, uh, let’s move on, dude. Come on.”

Then Richards gave a plug to Edge of Darkness and thanked Gibson, who said “bye” and then promptly added “a**hole” to the sentiment.

This isn’t the first time that Gibson has utterly failed to make it seem like he’s changed at all. He told Hello! Magazine (in what may have been a press conference) that he failed to see why it was a big deal. “So what’s the problem? It’s four years ago. Do I need to apologize again?”

No, Mel, all you have to do is memorize a humble-sounding response to inevitable questions about your DUI and anti-semitic statements. Something along the lines of “It’s regrettable, I wish it never happened, I’m in recovery now, I hope the public can see past that,” etc. Gibson is an actor and he should be able to act like he’s contrite and wants to change even if he isn’t. Instead, he’s messing up his minor comeback after a seven year hiatus by reminding us why he fell out of favor in the first place.

While out promoting his latest film, The Edge of Darkness, Mel Gibson has been answering a lot of questions about his 3-month-old baby Lucia. Predictably, Mel doesn’t seem too engaged with his daughter, and it’s slowly coming out in these interviews. Where Oksana has spent the past few months praising Mel in interview after interview, claiming that he’s “solid” and “faithful” and great with the baby, there’s some evidence that Mel has rather consistently been avoiding giving any help with the child. A few days ago he even let it slip to Jay Leno that this time around, he’s invested in some ear plugs:

He’s been a father seven times before, but this time Mel Gibson says it’s different.

“You know, you’re more mellow,” the actor, 54, said on The Jay Leno Show Tuesday. “There’s shortcuts, I guess. Earplugs, you know!”

When Leno asked, “Are you getting up at night, are you doing the whole deal?” Gibson replied, “I will be honest, I would say that her mother does the lion’s share of that work, but you know, I support her.”

There’s been another change since his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva gave birth to a girl in November: Gibson gave up his 45-year-long smoking habit.

“It’s been 18 days,” the star of the new film Edge of Darkness says. “You know, it’s not funny. I mean, serious, you bury some serious anger. Most people do it when they’re five, they get their security blanket taken away. I did it at 54 and I’d been smoking 45 years. There’s a lot of anger underneath it.”

When asked why he was so determined to quit smoking now, Gibson said, “Well, apart from carrying the garbage up to the top of the driveway and wheezing… I have a three-month-old daughter and (someday) I want to play tennis with her.”

[From People]

“But you know, I support her.” Is that as bad as I think? Like, Mel’s at an age where he just wants to pay someone to take care of whatever. Like, maybe if he gives Oksana enough money, she’ll shut up and leave him alone. And the earplug thing? Unless he’s got some huge day planned for the next day, I find the idea of earplugs really disgusting. Ugh, whatever.

While on the red carpet two nights ago for the premiere, Mel also told Entertainment Tonight that baby Lucia “looks like her mother…except, she’s got blue eyes.” Does the baby look like her mother before all the plastic surgery?

Mel Gibson & Oksana at the LA premiere on January 26, 2010. Credit: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures.

We’ve heard several stories in the National Enquirer and Radar Online that seem to have insider information gleaned from parishioners at Mel Gibson’s private Traditionalist Catholic Church, the Holy Family Chapel in Malibu. In June, Radar reported that Mel made a ranting speech during Sunday services, in which he “paced back and forth, furiously telling the congregation that he would not stand by and be judged and scrutinized.” This was of course after he went public with the news that he was expecting a baby with his mistress, despite the fact that he was still married. Mel’s church isn’t your typical Catholic church, and doesn’t recognize changes made by the Vatican in 1962. The church doesn’t even grant annulments, although Gibson is rumored to have obtained one.

Now Gibson seems to be trying to clamp down on potential moles in the congregation. Radar Online has obtained a special sign up form required of all new parishioners in which they’re advised that it’s a private church and that they can be barred at any time:

RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned that Mel is changing the way things work at his Holy Family Chapel and making worshipers fill out a one-page application to get their names on his Invitation and Security list.

RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained the document.

According to the sign up sheet, the “application must be accepted by security in order to gain admittance” to the Agoura Hills church. The application notes that the church’s services are “not open for negotiation by guests/attendees” and that entrance to the church can be revoked at any time for any reason.

Holy control freak – what exactly is going on here? The newly required sign up sheet doesn’t list a reason for the policy change, but Mel has previously expressed displeasure with things said in church making its way into the public domain.

Some church attendees have taken a dim view of Mel divorcing his wife Robyn and now having a baby out of wedlock with Oksana Grigorieva.

[From Radar Online]

Of course church members don’t approve. Average Catholics wouldn’t sign off on a guy leaving his wife for his pregnant mistress, and this is an offshoot so strict that they don’t believe that annulments should be granted. If Mel wanted to avoid gossip he either shouldn’t have left his wife in the first place, or barring that he should have tried to keep his affair under wraps. Oksana probably wouldn’t have stood for that, though, so he had to choose between being ostracized by his congregation or displeasing his girlfriend. People are going to talk about him, and trying to vet new church members isn’t going to help.

Mel Gibson stars in The Edge of Darkness, a revenge thriller about a Boston cop trying to find those responsible for his daughter’s death. It’s Gibson’s first major film since 2002′s Signs and is out in January of next year. The trailer has just come out, and it looks decent.

Entertainment Weekly points out that Gibson’s Boston accent is pretty bad, but apart from that the film has potential. It seems to have a similar feel to his 1996 film Ransom, and reminds me that Gibson can play the hell out of an angry, ass-kicking character.

I think I could watch this and not be distracted by what I know about Gibson’s personal life, but I’m sure there are plenty of you who don’t feel the same. Speaking of Gibson’s personal life, he was just spotted out in New York with his pregnant girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. Is it just me or does Oksana look incredibly pleased to be photographed out with Gibson?

We’ll have more chances to get used to Gibson as a leading man. He’s currently filming the comedy The Beaver with Jodi Foster, and has two more films in development, according to IMDB.

Thanks to Pacific Coast News for these photos.

Mel Gibson DUI has now gone the way of his marriage: legally gone but not forgotten. The 53 year-old father of eight will no longer have a belligerent 2006 arrest for DUI on his record. The phrases “sugar tits” and “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” will always live on, though:

A judge in Malibu, Calif., has signed an order scrubbing Mel Gibson’s 2006 arrest for driving while drunk – in which he went on an infamous anti-Semitic tirade – from the public record, TMZ.com reports

The move to expunge the DUI, a misdemeanor, was originally requested by Gibson’s lawyer, Blair Berk, on Sept. 21 after the actor had finished a probation lasting three years, which included Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, alcoholism education and fines.

It’s considered a routine legal move, and Judge Lawrence Mira noted that the conviction still would show up should Gibson decide to get a gun. It would also come up if Gibson, 53, is stopped for another DUI in the future.

[From People]

What difference does it make if Gibson’s DUI is legally expunged? I read a few lawyers’ sites and they basically say that it’s useful for employment purposes as you no longer have to disclose a DUI to a potential employer, and they cannot hold it against you. Obviously that doesn’t apply to Mel. Maybe it offers some kind of closure for him, though. Mel has a new pregnant girlfriend and maybe he wants a fresh start.

Mel reportedly had a “secret annulment” by the Catholic church of his marriage of 29 years to the wife of his eight children. This is despite the fact that Mel belongs to an ultra conservative offshoot of the Catholic church that doesn’t recognize annulments as valid. It seems like this guy is using all the legal and religious means at his disposal to try and erase the inconvenient parts of his past.