It’s truly astounding to see how Mel Gibson chooses to be the worst person every single day of his life. It’s not “oh, he made a few mistakes ten years ago.” It’s every single day for decades. It’s Mel Gibson choosing to say and do horrible, hateful, repugnant things for a huge chunk of his adult life. Big surprise, he’s MAGA. Well, for some reason, Mel has never really been “canceled” for good in the film industry. He’s still allowed to exist and make movies and he’s still invited to things like FanExpo Canada. The thing about FanExpo Canada is that they, like nearly every public event, strive to provide access to the largest number of people. That includes hearing-impaired people. There was an ASL interpreter on stage and as soon as Mel Gibson walked on stage, he mocked the interpreter.
Mel Gibson has issued an apology amid backlash over his recent appearance at FanExpo Canada, where the Oscar winner mocked an ASL interpreter while walking on stage to attend his retrospective Q&A. Video of the incident was widely circulated on social media platforms like X, with Gibson condemned for his insensitive actions.
“Sometimes when you get pushed out on a stage in a spotlight your mind is all over the place, and sometimes spontaneous thoughtless idiocy is displayed,” Gibson said in a statement to Variety. “There was no intended maliciousness attached, and I certainly apologize to anyone who was upset by it.”
FanExpo Canada is held annually and is billed as “the largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming event in Canada and the third-largest Pop Culture event in North America.” Gibson’s appearance at this year’s expo took place Saturday, Aug. 29, and included autograph and photo opportunities for fans that were priced at $275 each, per the event’s website.
The viral video of Gibson appearing to mock the Fan Expo ASL interpreter sparked backlash against the actor as well as FanExpo for platforming the controversial star. Users on X also began sharing a video of “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson at the same event and praising him for shaking the hand of the ASL interpreter after his Q&A wrapped.
I’m including the video below – his immediate reaction to seeing the back of the ASL interpreter was to mock sign language. There’s no excuse, there’s no “I certainly apologize to anyone who was upset by it.” It’s the carelessness, the eagerness to bully and make fun of something as thoughtful as “having an ASL interpreter on stage for the Q&A session.” Mel Gibson continues to be the worst person.
(Incidentally, there’s some history of “honest mistakes” regarding celebrities interacting with ASL interpreters. There was a famous incident about nine years ago where Waka Flocka thought his concert’s ASL interpreter was an enthusiastic concert-goer. He was super-respectful about it though, he left the stage to “dance” with the interpreter and the moment ended up going viral. He still talks about it and gives shoutouts to his hearing impaired fans to this day.)
Mel Gibson is reportedly under fire for mocking an ASL interpreter at Fan Expo Canada: pic.twitter.com/hraMHz8og0
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 31, 2026
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Rome, ITALY Mel Gibson was seen walking through the charming alleys of Rome, enjoying a relaxed moment while taking in the city’s historic atmosphere. Pictured: Mel Gibson BACKGRID USA 1 DECEMBER 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Rome, ITALY Mel Gibson is seen in a relaxed outfit as he enjoys a casual lunch with his family at the renowned Pierluigi restaurant in Rome. Pictured: Mel Gibson BACKGRID USA 25 OCTOBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: COBRA TEAM / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Rome, ITALY Mel Gibson was seen walking through the charming alleys of Rome, enjoying a relaxed moment while taking in the city’s historic atmosphere. Pictured: Mel Gibson BACKGRID USA 1 DECEMBER 2025 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
He apologized with the quickness. He must be in need of that con money and is trying to guarantee an invite back. Poor broke Mel. Loser.
He needs to not be invited back. Pretty much all cons have codes of conduct. Break the rules in an egregious manner, and you will be banned. Not suspended, banned.
I don’t want to post the URL here, but find FanExpo Canada’s website, scroll to “About Us” from the menu, then click “Policies”, then scroll down to “Code of Conduct”.
It says: “FAN EXPO Canada is a safe space where everyone can celebrate fandom to the fullest, so we do not tolerate mistreatment of any kind. Our policy applies to EVERYONE at the show and all participants are expected to follow the Code of Conduct”.
I did not bold or capitalise the word “Everyone”. It’s already like that on the page. EVERYONE means EVERYONE.
There is a “Report Incident” button a little further down the page. Anyone so moved should report this incident.
It was also a classic “non-apology” apology: Not “I was wrong. I was offensive, and regret my behavior and will strive to be better”, but an “I’m sorry IF YOU are offended by it…”
He’s still a hateful, racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, GF-beating, hateful pile of skin. He looks exactly like what he is.
I’m glad you addressed the non-apology he made because it was certainly glib, to say the least. The other thing I wanted to address was M. Gibson’s “pushed out on stage into the spotlight” remark, which implies (at his advanced age) that he’s some kind of newbie who gets stage-fright when he finds himself “in the spotlight”, like he was unprepared to be onstage. Wasn’t this appearance planned?
Otherwise, the only other thing I was going to add relates to @Bunny’s Code of Conduct for these events, and it’s good that they have one but does any adult really need to be told you don’t mock sign language interpreters, any more than you would mock foreign language interpreter? It seems like something a grade school child might do. I said “might” do because they are pretty sophisticated sometimes and are still young enough to have empathy. It just shows that Mel Gibson’s instinct is always to punch down.
It was basically ‘I was being silly, sorry if you can’t take a joke’. Despicable excuse for a human being.
Wasn’t there a South Park episode where Mel Gibson and a few other pale male stale MAGA hat people were swallowed by a wave of lava spilling out of a live volcano? ….and ended up as charred sticks like bad barbecue? Or am I just imagining that?
Always so interesting when someone physically transforms into the awful person inside.
Yeah he aged like milk. Def has the face he deserves.
Right? During the 80’s & 90’s he was so beautiful, and came across as so funny & charming in interviews. Aside from his struggles with alcohol you never heard a bad thing about him. He was one of my biggest celebrity crushes back in the day. How far he’s fallen and how awful he’s turned out to be is beyond disappointing.
They covered for him. We used to get all those ‘family man’ stories, same wife since forever, loves his kids, blah blah blah. Meanwhile he treated his wife & kids horribly.
Mel was so beautiful when he was young. But his outside now reflects the inner man. He is truly an awful person. I used to think his behavior was due to alcohol abuse. But no, he’s just an asshole.
So the organizers of FanExpo Canada support vile racist misogynistic antisemitic bigots who wish their ex-girlfriends would be gang SA-ed. Good to know.
Exactly! Hasn’t MG already done enough awful 💩 to not he invited in the first place? He should be shunned forever.
So his name is announced, and people start … cheering!?!? WTF? Who would start “woo-ing” for this clown?
Mel has the face he deserves, that’s all I’ve got
God I hate this guy so much.
He and I are the same age and holy crap. Thanks Mel, I look 20 years younger. Such an awful person.
He is a walking mug shot. And to be fair, most of the mug shots I’ve seen look a whole lot better than how he looks now. A truly bad man.
Disgusting and unnecessary. He’s just a mean and bigoted person.
Mel,
Have a seat and stay there.
As a profoundly deaf person since birth to deaf parents with ASL as my primary language, I’d greatly appreciate the identifiers of ‘deaf and hard of hearing’ people, not ‘hearing impaired.’ Much appreciated!
This guy only has to show up to be offensive to others and for many years the excuse was it’s only when he’s drinking that he’s obnoxious!? No he’s just a little guy who enjoys punching down and always evades real punishment or censure. Why is he given so many chances to reoffend in public?
I love the addition of the Alan Ritchson anecdote. Mel claims to be such a die hard Catholic (you know, except for the divorce part, etc) but Alan seems to be the real deal when it comes to Christianity.
Atheist here, but it’s not hard to be a good person, religion or not. Mel proves religion can’t save you (but can protect you) while Alan, like Dolly, is showing quite publicly you can be a good Christian (or whatever religion) and be a good person all at the same time.
Yeah, Ritchson is a real one, in every sense of that term.
Gibson is scum.
He still makes movies but does anyone watch them? I haven’t heard about any of his post anti semitic/”sugar t*ts” rant movies being super successful.
I’m surprised to see Mel at a fan expo of any kind, let alone one here in Toronto – I can tell you that he was not featured on any of the advertisements that I saw, that’s for sure! Good riddance and eff that pathetic “apology”.
After looking again at his picture, I figured out who he resembles: the Devil.
We had a podcast for 6+ years called Borderline. We had a literal segment called – it had a jingle and everything: “Hey Mel Gibson, I’m talkin’ to You” – and we gossiped about celebrities doing horrible things. He is not a good man – I will never know why the antisemitism wasn’t enough…or maybe the time he punched his partner WHILE she was holding their infant daughter. But he gets couched with Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg and they act like it’s all okay.
You should google the recordings of him emotionally and physically abusing his most recent baby-mama… any tiny little bit of pity you may have for him, or that memory of him being so attractive back in the day will VERY quickly disappear. He’s a disgusting pig.