Audio of the Mel Gibson recording.

[LpF]

I didn't think RDJ was making light in an unserious way.  That doesn't make sense, though...I mean...shit, I don't even know how to put it.  Like he wasn't OK with what he was implying, just addressing a reality and trying not to get...preachy(?) about it.  That probably just sounds like me grasping at a way to defend an actor I like who I want to believe has really turned it around, so take it as you will. 

You're right, though: the grins are horrific when you really think about what RDJ's implying here.

[katy]

But I got the feeling RDJ was implying that there were people in the room who actually had done worse.

Egads.  Well, they probably have.  But for that reason, I actually don't think RDJ did Mel any favors with this one.  If there are people in that room who've done worse, then they're just thinking "his own fault for getting caught, aren't I a genius for covering up better than that".  And if there are people who HAVEN'T done anything nearly as bad, then they're insulted for being compared to him.

I don't think anybody's gonna be like, "well, I run this studio and I'm Jewish, but Robert Downey Jr. likes Mel, so I'll work with him."

Actually, it's an odd message overall, because it was addressed solely at the people in the room and not say, the viewing American public.  Why does Mel need ACTORS to forgive him?  Even if RDJ meant the industry at large, what does Mel need the industry's forgiveness for?  He can fund his own movies.  It's the public that he needs to forgive him, because nobody will go to those movies if they don't.

I think it's a very weird moment on RDJ's part that speaks to what an insulated bubble these people live in; that he thinks it is so important to be respected and embraced by other celebrities.  What is that?  Like, what, Mel isn't gonna have any problems anymore if Guy Ritchie decides he's cool?  There is something psychologically twisted about it.

[Dalton]

I think any crime or transgression is forgivable if the person genuinely understands what he or she has caused and is sorry and regretful (which, you know, who knows in this case).  I'm very Jesus like on this issue.

[katy]

Wait, which is more ironic:

-- that you are invoking Christian forgiveness for an anti-Semite
-- that you are comparing yourself to THE MESSIAH*, in response to RDJ's message about being "a man of humility"

* Don't get me wrong, I like your style.  Go big or go home.

[Dobbin]

I would like to like Gibson again. I used to love liking Gibson. But this ain't the thing that is gonna do it.

[Dalton]

Wait, which is more ironic:

-- that you are invoking Christian forgiveness for an anti-Semite

I mean, yeah.  Forgive those who trespass against us, right?  That's kinda the whole point.  Again I think anybody can be worthy of forgiveness.  Not really taking about this case specifically.

-- that you are comparing yourself to THE MESSIAH*, in response to RDJ's message about being "a man of humility"

I put it in kind of a tongue in cheek way but I meant I understand and live by that part of his philosophy.  Quite frankly I don't even believe in Jesus or any of that religious crap.

[nate.3.0]

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/joe-eszterhas-explodes-mel-gibson-you-hate-jews-36957

And the response...

http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/mel-gibson-responds-to-the-hateful-e-mail-that-joe-eszterhass-leaked/

[katy]

I like how he says a "great majority" of the charges in Joe E.'s letter are false.  That's like R. Kelly answering the question "do you like teenaged girls?" with "define teenage".

[Dobbin]

What the fuck is Joe Esterhaus bringing his wife and son along after all that in the 1st place? That said: I WANT THAT IPOD RECORDING.

Also, you know who is a giant bag of bullshit? A talented giant bag of bullshit, but still: Robert Downey Jr. Hugged the cactus long enough; right.

[Hawkboy]

Has anyone read Joe Eszterhas's book? He's just as nuts as Mel, maybe more.

Consider the source.

[Dobbin]

I guess there's a certain amount of "tolerating the insane baby" that goes on in Hollywood, to explain why a guy wouldn't bail after the 4th "hebe" and "jewboy" and the 1st "The holocaust is mostly bullshit." But a ton of that stuff was super-specific.

I think the most telling is the obsession over his own aging. That seems to be the wellspring of his crazy; he dumped his wife and married a young Russian girl to avoid getting old, but it just showed how old he was by contrast and he got all WINTER'S TALE about it.

I think there are probably no heroes in this story; a cynical attempt to make a "here, jews, for you!" movie that will be sold to christian-bible types because: HEY! Biblical!, all while being helmed by  guy who can't walk 20 feet without calling someone a "hebe" or "oven dodger." Anybody involved is all kinds of gross.

[Dobbin]

Never mind the fact that the Macabees were the Bin Laden/Al Quieda of their day; their most brutal stuff was doled out to "Hellenized Jews" who embraced modernity and shaved and went to gymnasiums. Judah was a religious fanatic along the lines of the modern Taliban. But again, that's another discussion.

[katy]

Consider the source.

I did, but the dialogue he quotes of Mel's sounds exactly like Mel in those "hot tub first, then blown, then burn the house down" Oksana tapes -- and he's not that great of a writer or observant of a person.  I buy it all.

[Hayner]

I watched The Beaver last night.  I really dug it.  It made me wish Mel hasn't become the Mel he became.

[Ian Larsen]

Part of the iPod recording

Some more comments