Well, this was a long time coming. Mel Gibson and Robyn Gibson’s divorce has, at long last, been finalized. Mel and Robyn were married for nearly 30 years, but she started divorce proceedings on Mel back in April, 2009. Between that time and now, Mel impregnated Oksana Gregorieva, and they had a baby girl. The custody dispute between Mel and Oksana took less time than Mel and Robyn’s divorce. Would you like to know why? Because Robyn was getting PAID.

Mel Gibson is now legally single after his divorce was finalized Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom, but bachelorhood came at a heavy price.

Robyn, his ex-wife of nearly 30 years and the mother of their seven children, is walking away with half his fortune, once estimated to be as high as $850 million (according to the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2006) in what is considered the biggest divorce payout in Hollywood history.

Because the couple didn’t have a prenuptial agreement, Robyn, 55, was legally entitled to half of everything he earned during their marriage.

Among Gibson’s estimated assets: more than $600 million grossed by The Passion of the Christ alone; $100-plus million in real estate investments worldwide (he bought an island in Fiji for $15 million in 2005); and $75 million for film and TV projects for which Gibson, 55, executive produced.

It appears some of his wealth has already been transferred to Robyn, in particular two Malibu homes worth a combined $22.5 million. As for film residuals, Robyn is entitled to half of every future check Gibson receives for the rest of his life.

“I left my wife because we had no spiritual common ground,” Gibson told his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva in secretly recorded tapes she made of the actor in February 2010.

During his custody battle with Grigorieva, in which the Russian musician accused Gibson of domestic violence, Robyn filed a sworn statement in July 2010 stating that “Mel was a wonderful and loving father” and never abused Robyn or their kids.

Gibson met Robyn, at the time a dental nurse, in the late 1970s after the American-born actor, who moved to Australia when he was 12, had filmed his breakout role in Mad Max.

[From People]

You know what? After 30 years with that alcoholic, anti-Semitic, violent POS, Robyn deserves every penny. I always thought that she came out and claimed that Mel had never been violent with her because it was part of the divorce negotiations. Robyn battled hard for the money, and she got what she wanted.

Photos courtesy of Fame, Pacific Coast News & Bauer-Griffin.

There are so many reality shows that I’ve never heard of. I thought that most of the new ones involved cupcakes or baking, but there also seems to be this trend of making reality soap operas around jet setting people in cities like Dallas. There’s “A-List Dallas,” “Most Eligible Dallas,” and “Dallas Divas and Daughters.” Anyway there was a show on VH1 in 2010 called “Secrets of Aspen” which tanked in the ratings and was cancelled. One of its famewhore wannabe stars, the “villian” on the show, Laura, was desperate enough to risk a burial in the rose garden and hooked up with Mel Gibson briefly. Laura Bellizzi, 35, is pregnant and according to Star Magazine [via Radar Online] is telling friends that the baby is Mel’s. That’s one way to secure a future filled with large child support checks, scary drunken tirades and abuse.

A pregnant reality TV star, who dated Mel Gibson briefly during the summer, is telling friends that the Braveheart actor is the father of her unborn baby, Star magazine is exclusively reporting.

Both the mother-to-be, Laura Bellizzi, 35, and Gibson denied the claim when contacted for comment, and a source close to Mel insists that it’s “physically impossible” for the 55-year-old actor to have fathered the child.

However, a close insider says that Bellizzi has confided to friends that Mel is the baby daddy, but does not want the news to go public.

“Laura’s being as secretive as she can be about it,” the insider told Star. “But she’s really showing now, and people are beginning to ask the question: ‘Who’s the daddy?’”

The well-placed source says that Laura is more than four months pregnant, and indeed, photographs, exclusively obtained by Star, show the Orange County based mom-to-be with a visible baby bump.

Bellizzi, who appeared on VH1’s Secrets of Aspen in 2010, dated Mel during the summer and the couple were last seen together at the Mondrian hotel’s Skybar in West Hollywood on June 15.

“Laura and Mel met through some mutual friends in Malibu, and the chemistry was instant,” the source revealed.

A member of Laura’s family has also confirmed to Star that she is in fact pregnant by “an A-lister” and that the child will have “a famous father.”

If Laura’s sensational claims prove to be true, this will be the ninth child for Mel — he has seven children with his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Robyn Moore, and a daughter, Lucia, from his relationship with Russian pianist/singer Oksana Grigorieva.

Laura already has three other children of her own, from two previous relationships.

You can read the whole sensational story in this week’s Star magazine — on newsstands Wednesday.

[From Radar Online]

Rumorfix has some photos from Laura’s facebook of her out with Mel. They also have the detail that she has “three daughters from two different fathers.” It could be worse, all of her kids could have different dads. They also claim to have a source who tells them that, just like Oksana at first, Mel is taking care of this woman, has bought her a “luxurious home in a prominent gated community in Ladera Ranch in Orange County” and is planning to provide for the future baby’s education. That will last until this chick denies Mel a beej, and then all hell will break lose. Mel’s people have denied this story though, and call it “complete and utter nonsense.” There’s plenty of evidence that he dated her at least. It’s not that much of a stretch to think the baby could be his.

photo credit: WENN.com

Mel Gibson and his baby-mama Oksana Grigorieva came to some kind of settlement yesterday, but I have no idea if this is truly the end of everything. I think this is the end of financial settlement part of Mel and Oksana’s legal drama, but there are probably more custodial issues (for baby Lucia) yet to work out? People Mag says that the custody agreement has been folded into this financial settlement too, but I don’t know. All I know is that in California, Mel Gibson is allowed to punch his girlfriend in the face, claim that she deserved it, and walk away with a slap on the wrists. I know that Mel Gibson is allowed to stalk, harass, threaten and abuse his girlfriend, and then he gets to just write a check for 0.0002% of his net worth (if that) and walk away. I know that this is all very far from over.

To end the acrimonious dispute that practically dates back to the October 2009 birth of their daughter, Lucia, Mel Gibson agreed on Wednesday to pay $750,000 over the next five years to ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

The actor-filmmaker will also allow her to continue to live in a house he owns in Los Angeles.

“Thanks, your honor, for bringing this case to a reasonable conclusion,” Gibson, 55, told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman, who articulated in a hearing the terms agreed upon by the parties over four days of negotiation last week.

Under the deal, Gibson will sell the house when Lucia turns 18 and puts the proceeds in a trust for her.

Also under the deal, the parties are not allowed to publicly discuss each other or their relationship. Lichtman specifically said they also cannot write books about each other.

Grigorieva’s attorney told reporters that his client was in a loving, three-year relationship with Gibson before things went bad, and that she is pleased with the agreement and looking forward to focusing on her daughter and her music career.

“Oksana settled this case today because it’s in the best interests of Lucia,” said attorney Daniel Horowitz.

Under the agreement, custody of Lucia will be shared 50-50. Issues pertaining to child support were presumably discussed behind closed doors and not publicly disclosed.

The agreement settles a civil lawsuit that Horowitz threatened to file on behalf of Grigorieva, 41, and her teenage son, Alexander, whose father is Timothy Dalton. Alexander witnessed an incident last year in which Gibson allegedly assaulted Grigorieva as she was holding Lucia.

To settle the matter in criminal court, Gibson pleaded no contest in March to misdemeanor battery.

[From People]

I can’t believe she only got $750,000. Last year, there were wide reports that Mel had offered her $15 million, which would have included a massive gag order and a similar custody agreement. So… golddigger fail? God knows. I would imagine Mel probably has to pay Oksana’s extensive legal bills, though. Oksana has run up millions in legal bills. So that’s something, at least.

Here are some photos of Oksana coming out of court yesterday:

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News, WENN.

Here are some photos from Tuesday night’s premiere of The Beaver in Cannes. Mel Gibson actually showed for the premiere, after skipping the earlier photo call. Judging from the state of Mel, I’d say that he probably spent most of the day doing shots and smoking cigs while laying on a hotel balcony. More on that in a moment, but seriously, Mel is looking especially reptilian in these photos. Jodie, meanwhile, looks rather gorgeous in this striking navy Armani. I love the asymmetrical cut on the top, and I’m usually not a fan of asymmetry.

By the way, when Mel Gibson entered the theatre for the premiere, apparently he got a standing ovation. FOR TEN MINUTES. And the film was generally well-received too. Because Europeans love women-beaters?

For the rest of the photos, I thought I’d do captions. Just because I haven’t done that in a while.

Mel: “And I said ‘blow me’ and she said ‘NO!’ Can you believe that? Durr. So I had to smack her.”

Mel: “You’re a WHAT?!? You like to do WHAT to LADIES?!? You‘re going to hell.”

Jodie: “Ew, did you just fart?”

Mel: “I wish I had my guns right now. I would take down all of these Frenchies.”

Remember how I said Mel probably spent his day laying out on balcony, getting hammered? Yeah. There’s photo evidence. His poor sunburned moobs. They deserve to buried in the rose garden.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

This weekend was a roaring one at movie theaters, where Thor easily secured the #1 position with an estimated $66 million in U.S. ticket sales (with international sales boosting it to a total of $242 million), which qualifies it as a fairly successful “summer” movie. Between this film, the Iron Man franchise, and the inexplicably successful X-Men movies, Marvel Studios really has the box-office sewn up as far as comic-book adaptations go, while any viable D.C. Comics titles loom far off in the horizon with the Superman reboot and The Dark Knight Rises still in their pre-production phases. At any rate, Thor and his abdominal muscles pretty much killed it this weekend, and while I was pretty skeptical about a newcomer (or, at least, a virtually unknown actor) carrying a major studio tentpole, I will concede that an effective marketing blitz (and inflated 3D prices) really did the trick in boosting Thor to this point:

Reviews have been good, and British Kenneth Branagh’s direction and Aussie newcomer Chris Hemsworth in the title role of The Mighty Thor earned a 92% rating currently on Rotten Tomatoes. The good-looking Hemsworth allowed for heavy PR to drum up appeal among women with his shirtless clip a popular choice for talk shows with large female audiences who also were targeted with a Royal Wedding blitz. To solidify male appeal, Paramount had spots during the Super Bowl and NCAA Basketball, the UFC Marathon and UFC Fight Night Live Premiere. And, to appeal to the feeble-brained, Thor ads aired on the finale of Jersey Shore.

Thor launched in 1962 and has endured for almost half a century across comics, toys, animated series, and now a movie. Like Iron Man, Marvel thought Thor deserved to be made in its own right and lends a long history to The Avengers. (Aka Marvel’s Avengers Assemble strategy. Expect to see agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., previously seen in the Iron Man movies, foreshadowing the coming of The Avengers). The challenge for Paramount was to market a reverse superhero story: a hero becomes a man. “Our challenge was to emphasize what was unique about his character and define him for audiences,” a studio exec told me. So the TV ads reminded: “The world has many heroes but only one is a God.” This epic adventure spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard with the powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

[From Deadline]

Elsewhere, the Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson homoerotic picture of the decade, Fast Five, held onto #2. Even though it’s springtime, the weekend’s two wedding-themed movies didn’t fare so well, with Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed (starring Kate Hudson and her nympho ways), scoring #3 with $13.7 million and #4 with $13.2 million, respectively speaking. Meanwhile, The Beaver opened in 22 theaters with only $104,000 total under its already dubious belt. In other words, it probably won’t be opening next weekend in your nearest multiplex, and now Jodie Foster has only herself to blame (and not race psychology) for wasting a $20 million budget on a movie about a guy who’s so depressed that he can only speak though a puppet. Hopefully, this also means she’ll stop praising Mel Gibson for awhile too.

Photos courtesty of AllMoviePhoto and Square Hippies

Oksana Grigorieva has dropped the domestic violence portion of her complaint against Mel Gibson. Rumor has it that she’s doing it to show the judge that she’s serious about peacefully negotiating custody of her 18 month-old daughter with Mel, Lucia. Of course this leaves the field wide open for people to get judgy about Oksana and claim that Mel never hit her, despite the fact that we’ve heard audio of him admitting to it and saying she deserved it, he’s admitted to slapping her, and we saw photos of the “alleged” damage he did. Maybe Oksana just wants to move on at this point, and she could be sick of paying her high priced lawyers as well.

TMZ and Radar have conflicting reports about this, since TMZ’s sources are obviously Mel’s people and Radar’s source is Oksana. TMZ claims that Oksana is bothering Mel and trying to talk to him when they have custody handoffs, and if that’s the case it sounds perfectly reasonable. They’re trying to co-parent a child together and she probably has a few things she wants to discuss with Mel about their daughter.

Radar quotes a source who says that Oksana “has no interest in communicating directly with Mel or getting back together with him. She doesn’t see the need to speak with him.” Their source (Oksana) goes on to say that while Oksana did let a protection order against Mel lapse, she’s only doing it to show that she has Lucia’s best interests in mind. They also remind us “that she walked away from a $15 million settlement, too, because she is a good parent.”

I’m team toddler on this one. After watching some interviews with Oksana I understand the criticism against her. She didn’t appear truly frightened or genuine and her story was somewhat sketchy. It seems unfair to nitpick her, though, and to say that she’s not acting the victim role well enough. The tapes had Mel saying some outrageous threatening things and there’s no excuse for what he said or did to her. That was despicable and clearly abusive.

Before I read these reports that Oksana and Mel weren’t communicating I assumed they were back together, however. Mike Walker reported in the National Enquirer two weeks ago that a witness saw Oksana and Mel holding hands in Malibu. He wrote:

According to a reliable source who was out running around in the Malibu hills area known as Serra Retreat, he suddenly turned a corner and ran smack into mercurial movie star Mel Gibson – who was strolling peacefully and affectionately arm-in-arm with ex-mistress/baby-momma/supposed mortal enemy Oksana Grigorieva… My source, who knows Mel slightly but is not a professional reporter, did not dare ask the burning question: “Why?” Mel, who owns two homes in the area, just nodded and moved on.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker's column May 2, 2011]

If that’s true it kind of puts this whole thing into perspective doesn’t it?

Oksana is shown out with Lucia on 3/10/11. Credit: Fame. Mel is shown outside of court on 3/11/11. Credit: WENN

Sometimes, I just don’t know what to do with Jodie Foster. She complains about the downtrodden status of female directors in Hollywood yet refuses to reconcile that she willingly (professionally and personally) associates with those same male directors (who are part of the problem she is complaining about), some of which do very bad things. When confronted with the ultimate character of these men, like say Roman Polanski, Jodie simply states “That’s not my business.” And as we’re all quite aware, Jodie adores and worships Mel Gibson (“I will love this man for the rest of my life”), who believes that he can justify smacking Oksana Gregorieva with an “explanation.” None of this bothers Jodie, however, because she’s promoting her latest ill-fated directing and acting project, a tragicomedy about depression called The Beaver (starring Mel Gibson). As such, Jodie clearly rehearsed ahead of time what she was going to say about Mel to Moviefone:

This was a very emotional film, especially when watching Mel Gibson play such a tormented character. Sometimes I had trouble separating his role from what I know about him in his personal life. Did his personal life affect his performance?

Well, none of “that” happened while we were shooting. His relationship [with ex Oksana Grigorieva] was very happy at that point, and they had a baby during the shoot. I don’t think any of this stuff informed his performance. This is a movie about a man struggling, who wants to change. That’s a part of my life, and a part of Mel’s life. That’s why he can bring such a raw, honest performance to the screen.

I love that side of him – the complex side. He can also do the charming thing, too, like when he’s doing the lighter bits at the start of the film. We needed both of those sides. I don’t know if people can compartmentalize what they see on YouTube about someone’s private life, but I guess that’s up to the individual. Mel is witty, and he’s a good-natured guy. That’s not all he is – he’s incredibly literate, very sensitive, and very feminine in a lot of ways. That’s a side that people don’t see.

The trailer for ‘The Beaver’ differed greatly from the tone of the movie. It made it seem like a dark comedy – which doesn’t quite classify this film, and it’s rated PG-13.

[Laughs] I know. It makes it seem like a heartwarming family film, doesn’t it? I am not responsible for the trailer! [Laughs] My hat is off to Summit Entertainment, because this is the marketing challenge of the century. This is not a mainstream movie. What you don’t want is people going to the theater expecting a comedy, and then realizing it’s not. If people come with the wrong expectation, they’ll say bad things about it when they leave. Ultimately we want people to see the movie they expect to see.

It was amazing to watch the puppet transform – it was almost like it came to life!

That’s a funny thing. We didn’t shift and change the camera that much; we made some framing choices. But we didn’t change its eyes or anything like that.

It did shower though!

[Laughs] Yes it did! We had one beaver that was just for getting wet. We called it the ‘wet beaver.’

[From Moviefone]

Ha ha ha, d’ya hear that? The wet beaver. I bet the infinitely clever Mel came up with that one. You know, since he has so much inherent respect for beavers. Anyway, Mel is reportedly “expected” (although not confirmed) to show up for the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 17. Maybe he’ll bring the wet beaver along for the ride.

Seriously though, here’s what I take from Jodie’s latest words on Mel Gibson. She wasn’t there when “that” happened, and she never saw “that” happen, so essentially it didn’t happen. Because if “that” really happened to Oksana Gregorieva at the hands of Mel, then Jodie would have to admit her own hypocrisy against womankind. So “that” just doesn’t exist to her. Classy.

Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto and WENN

Mel Gibson has done his first interview since Radar released the audio recordings made by Oksana Grigorieva, in which recording after recording featured Mel, in various stages of inebriation, rage and depression, verbally abusing Oksana in racist, profanity-laced rants. The tapes also featured a “confession” by Mel that he had in fact hit Oksana – “You deserved it,” he told her. Mel hasn’t given any kind of interview since months before that went down – it’s probably been 15-16 months since he’s said anything, unless you count strategic leaks from his lawyers to TMZ (I don’t).

So, Mel is likely contractually obligated to do some promotional work for The Beaver, so he sat down for an interview with Deadline. The interviewer makes note that Mel was accommodating – “There were no pre-set conditions, no topic off limits, and no ground rules. This is just Mel being Mel. I found him to be funny but also melancholy, occasionally brazen and often abashed.” The piece is really long, and you can read the full thing here, at Deadline. Here are some highlights:

On the tapes: “I was angry at me. But, no one expressed any anger at me. They may have felt it. Of course [I regret it]. [Looks at the ceiling and shakes his head and sighs] Who anticipates being recorded? Who anticipates that? Who could anticipate such a personal betrayal?

On charges that he’s a racist and a misogynist: “I’ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality — period. I don’t blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited. You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship. It’s one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn’t represent what I truly believe or how I’ve treated people my entire life.”

On his future as an actor: “I don’t care if I don’t act anymore. It really is true. I’m beyond that, way beyond that. The whole experience has been most unfortunate. And so it’s not without all the downside. I could easily not act again. It’s not a problem. I’m going to do something now because I want to do it and because it’s fun. I’ve already pulled another job and it’s going to be fun. I don’t know if it’s going to get off the ground, but I’m going to go work for [Best Picture Oscar winner Braveheart's screenwriter] Randy Wallace again. He’s got this script and he’s had it for years. He wrote some book and he’s adapted it to a script. And it’s almost like Alexander Dumas — like that swashbuckler kind of stuff. It’s total bodice-ripping swashbuckling stuff, but it’s funny. It’s funny and yet it’s got really good serious undertones too. Randy writes a decent script. And I responded to it right away. I thought this is hilarious. I’ve got to do this. And I’m not the main guy in the film — which is great.

On being hired and then fired from a cameo in The Hangover II: “You have to let that go. I sat here and talked to [director] Todd [Phillips] about it. I like Todd. How could you not like Todd? He’s smart and he’s gifted and so are the other people in the film. It’s okay. You just have to let that go. It shows you a few things. You just move on and go okay. I’m not greatly offended by it. It seemed like a good idea at the time and it went south.

On compartmentalizing: “You have to. There are a lot of people depending on you. There are deadlines to meet and fiscal responsibilities. There are the basics of supporting yourself and those who depend on you and those commitments that you have to co-workers.”

On Whoopi Goldberg: I knew Whoopi before she was Whoopi. And, as she’s great and I always liked her and loved her. I like her even more now because she got it. I know [she got a lot of flak]. I love her for it.”

On very few people defending him: “That doesn’t bother me. Why would anyone want to speak publicly and drag themselves through this crap? It seems to add fuel to the fire. Very many people are supportive, of course, but you find out who your friends are. I have many friends and they’ve been great.”

On deciding to do The Beaver: “It was something different and it was also Jodie. I’d give her a pedicure every day of the week if I could. We met on Maverick many years ago. I realized that one has a perception — everyone gets preconceptions. She totally surprised me. I knew she was bright, so that didn’t surprise me. She was really bright. And she was pragmatic and extremely sensitive and a good heart, a real good heart. So how could you not become friends? We became fast friends and we maintained that over the years. We’ve both had our different little journeys. It’s untraditional. But there are a lot of things we have in common. I can empathize with her. From four years of age, she’s been out there. And it’s not that for me, but almost, because I was a baby when I started. I was probably more developmentally arrested at the age of 21 than she was at four. [Laughs] You couldn’t get two people who are more diametrically opposed on everything that they think about religion and politics than what we do. But there is a core of goodness there that’s undeniable and I just love her.”

On politics: “Nobody is the same. The whole notion of politics is they always present you with this or this or this. I’ll get a newspaper to read between the lines. Why do you have to adhere to prescribed formulas that they have and people argue over them and they’re all in a box. And you watch Fox claw CNN, and CNN claw Fox. Sometimes I catch a piece of the news and it seems insanity to me. I quietly support candidates. I’m not out there banging a drum for candidates. But I have supported a candidate and it’s a whole other world. Once you’ve been exposed to it, once or twice or however many times, if you know the facts and see how they’re presented, it’s mind-boggling. It’s a very scary arena to be in, but I do vote. I go in there and pull the lever. It’s kind of like pulling the lever and watching the trap door fall out from beneath you. Why should we trust any of these people? None of them ever deliver on anything. It’s always disappointing.”

On his private relationships: “It’s nobody’s business. It really isn’t. Why is it? Why is it anyone’s business? I think it detracts from my business. It’s a change. And why is that of interest to anyone? It always baffles me. Why is that of interest to anyone? If people understood how mundane my life really is. You’re sort of thinking, who cares? It’s staggering. It’s a surprise to me. It’s just a life.”

On how the tape scandal affected his family: The main thing is that it was terribly humiliating and painful for my family, all my kids… Yeah, we spoke. And I had to speak to them with everyone but my youngest who is blissfully unaware, thank God. Well, she may be aware of it one day, and at that time, I guess I’ll just address that. I spent thirty years keeping them away from this kind of thing and I was quite successful. So why should I start now dragging them through that stuff? You try to manage that.

On being able to go out: Yeah, it happens sometimes. You ain’t seen much of me recently. It’s doable. Yeah, I go out. I do what I need to do. Life goes on. It’s part of your job to be out there. But there are aspects that you don’t necessarily want and sometimes they are completely unavoidable. You get blindsided and try to deal with it in a pragmatic way.

[From Deadline]

Do you buy that all of the tapes were recorded on one day? I don’t. And it didn’t sound like Mel was the one who was trying to get out of the relationship, either. It sounded like he was ordering his property (Oksana) to come back to him so he could yell at her face to face. Mel spoke more about Oksana in a back and forth I found interesting:

WEINER: Before the tapes were leaked on line, you’d reached a $16 million settlement agreement with Oksana, right?
GIBSON: I can’t really talk about that.

WEINER: Well, it has been reported that you reached a $16 million dollar settlement with Oksana and she signed the agreement. And then, shortly after agreeing to the settlement, she rejected it and the tapes were leaked to RadarOnline only days later. [Gibson says nothing.] So, when did you first find out that tapes had been made of your private conversations?
GIBSON: I really can’t talk about this stuff. It’s all kind of … There are a lot of things pending, custody and all kinds of things that I can’t even go into. Put it this way, for the sake of my daughter and the rest of my children, I really can’t talk about this. There are all sorts of legal things pending.

WEINER: What are you dealing with in terms of legal things?
GIBSON: Everybody has a dog in the fight but me, oddly enough. I haven’t got a lawsuit out on anyone because I think it’s extremely… You have to think about your children. That’s all there is to it. I can’t really discuss this. There are a lot of delicate and sensitive issues and I don’t want to be the cause of grief to any of my children or to friends or family or associates on either side because it’s a matter that should be dealt with. It’s important to me that it’s dealt with correctly and it’s important that I maintain my integrity through this for the sake of those I love. So speaking about it is just not on and apart from anything else, I’m prohibited by court order. Now, the system is flawed as we know, but you’ve got to ride with that. I think that it will all eventually come out in the wash and I’m depending on that. I have a lot of faith in that. Even though any organization, anybody, will always be flawed or not perfect in many ways. But at the end of the day, they’re trying to work in a fashion that achieves some kind of justice. I’m going to hook my hitch onto that and follow that through. Perhaps some time I will go on and comment in a more full way. But even if the judge hadn’t put some kind of court order on me, I think I’d stay mum on a lot of these things just out of consideration for Lucia and my other children and my grandchildren and friends and family. It doesn’t do any good. Maybe, when this is all over and hopefully, justice is achieved. Maybe I could say something. But I’d never want to leave anything lying around that would… a lot of damage has been done. I don’t want to add to it.

WEINER: Let’s talk about what you plead to in court regarding allegations that you hit Grigorieva.
GIBSON: I was allowed to end the case and still maintain my innocence. It’s called a West plea and it’s not something that prosecutors normally allow. But in my case, the prosecutors and the judge agreed that it was the right thing to do. I could have continued to fight this for years and it probably would have come out fine. But I ended it for my children and my family. This was going to be such a circus. You don’t drag other people in your life through this sewer needlessly, so I’ll take the hit and move on.

[From Deadline]

…What? Mel had to give a sworn statement to the court where he admitted slapping Oksana. Yes, he had an “explanation” for why he slapped her (one that didn’t make much sense, and by the way, ALL beaters have “explanations” for why they hit women), but it’s still on the record. The idea that Mel basically went to court and pled no contest (as opposed to guilty or not guilty) for the sake of his family… well, I tend to think he’s full of it. You know, horse manure. But whatever.

Oh, and if you want to have a rage stroke, go and read the comments on Deadline. They’re worse than the TMZ comments. Ridic.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Yesterday, CB sent me some of these quotes from Jodie Foster’s new interview in the AARP Magazine. Here were my first reactions:

“Jesus, Jodie. You don’t have to defend Mel Gibson in EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW.”

“I hate you. Why did I even like you in the first place?”

And so on. Why is it that Jodie’s continued defense of Mel Gibson (in interview after exhaustive interview) irk me so much? I asked this when Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson went out to lunch together, and TMZ snapped one photo of them. Why is it that Jodie continued defense of this horrible human being upsets me, and yet I will forgive RDJ’s continued relationship with Mel? Is it because Jodie is pushing her relationship with Mel in my face, in interviews, through her promotion of The Beaver, while RDJ keeps quiet publicly? Is it because RDJ doesn’t throw glitter and delusion on his pro-Mel bias (like Jodie) and demand that I see Mel as a “beautiful, brilliant” soul? Probably.

Jodie Foster who directed Mel Gibson in The Beaver, calls the embattled star “a brilliant man, a beautiful talent, and a loyal, loyal friend” in an interview with AARP Magazine, and RadarOnline.com has all the details for you.

“From the moment I met him, there was such a connection that I knew we would be friends for the rest of my life,” the Silence of the Lambs star told AARP The Magazine of her friendship with the actor, who’s been a virtual non-factor in Hollywood since RadarOnline.com released the world exclusive tapes of the actor violently berating his ex girlfriend, Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva.

“We work exactly in the same way: No bull—-. We’ve had so many conversations about the topics the film explores,” Foster told the magazine. “He is a brilliant man, a beautiful talent, and a loyal, loyal friend. That’s the man I know.”

In the upcoming movie, Gibson’s character — an executive going through a serious personal crisis — adopts a beaver hand-puppet as his only way of communicating. Foster said that she cast Gibson in The Beaver, in part, because of the trials and tribulations that have kept the Lethal Weapon star in the headlines over the past five years.

“I knew he could relate so much to Walter’s struggles that there was no way he would it as a comedy,” she told the magazine. “That Mel’s character be dramatically consumed in this internal struggle was very important to me.”

Earlier this month, Gibson was sentenced to three years probation, 16 hours of community service and 52 court-ordered domestic violence counseling sessions as part of his sentence for a misdemeanor battery conviction for his January 2010 attack on Grigorieva. Gibson turned himself in to be booked March 16, the very same night the film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

While introducing the film, Foster said, “I just have to ask everybody, can you see a film and appreciate the artist for his work? And if anything, I think anybody who comes to see the film and understands Mel’s extraordinary performance in the movie can’t go away untouched by his humanity.

“If there’s a message to the movie it’s that you don’t have to be alone — the truth is that the great remedy for that is connection.” The Beaver hits theaters May 6.

[From Radar]

At some point it becomes less about my growing dislike of Jodie because of her association with, defense of and love for Mel Gibson. At this point, I’m actually kind of worried about Jodie because I’m starting to wonder if she’s in the midst of some kind of nervous breakdown and these interviews are her cry for help. I’m concerned.

Here‘s Mel, “a brilliant man, a beautiful talent, and a loyal, loyal friend. That’s the man I know.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Yesterday, TMZ got an exclusive photo of Robert Downey Junior and Mel Gibson exiting In-N-Out in Irvine. There’s only one blurry photo – you can see it here. TMZ swears it’s definitely Mel and RDJ, and I tend to believe it is. TMZ’s witness claims, “they each ordered a Double-Double combo meal and dined with a third person, non-celebrity. They were joined by a friend, who did the ordering for them.” Also: TMZ got someone in RDJ or Mel’s camp to say that it was not a business meeting or anything about film work, meaning that RDJ and Mel were probably just hanging out as friends.

RDJ has been very careful to not say anything negative about Mel, not even when the entire scope of Mel’s rampage was evident. When RDJ was on The Late Show last year, David Letterman finally got RDJ to talk about Mel – just a little bit. RDJ said in part, “He’s a grown man… What am I gonna say? Here’s the problem… I start believing my own hype, and then I start thinking people need to listen to what I say and next thing you know my wife is miserable and the director goes, ‘He’s crazy. What is wrong with this guy?’ And as far as whatever example I can say to anybody else, I think the best thing I can do is just keep the plug in the jug myself and stay out of trouble.” There was also tabloid gossip a few months ago that RDJ and Jude Law’s bromance was suffering because of their constant bickering about Robert still being friendly with Mel. That story probably wasn’t true, but it brings up an interesting set of questions…

First of all, why is RDJ so completely loyal to Mel? Is it simply that Mel was one of the few people who gave RDJ a second chance after Robert’s cracked-out shenanigans? At some point, is it no longer about loyalty and it becomes about guilt-by-association? Here’s another question: even though there are plenty of stories of Mel being persona non grata in Hollywood, he still has enough supporters and apologists willing to go on the record to Vanity Fair, and willing to pour into TMZ’s comment section on a weekly basis – how and why?

Here’s another question – why is it RDJ gets to be “loyal” to Mel without taking much (if any) of a public hit, while Jodie Foster is basically alienating a huge chunk of her fan base by sticking up for Mel? Is it a gender thing? Is Jodie “betraying” her sex by being so close to Mel (and Roman Polanski, for that matter)? My take is no, actually. I think RDJ gets a pass for the most part because A) He’s not shilling some Mel Gibson project and trying to get Mel’s career back on track, like Jodie is, and B) RDJ isn’t so delusional as to publicly defend Mel in some kind of interview or public statement. RDJ has Mel’s back in private, and all he’s really done is refuse to comment on Mel publicly. Jodie, on the other hand, is trying to pitch us a version of Mr. I’ll-Kill-You-But-First-You-Blow-Me that we all know is kind of ridiculous.

Vintage Mel and RDJ, Air America stills.