There are two very different versions of Mel Gibson floating around out there. The first is the Gibson we love—fighting for Scottish freedom, winning Oscars, crafting a powerful movie about the crucifixion. And then there’s the other Gibson—prone to drunken anti-Semitism, disgusting bouts of misogyny and even domestic abuse. Yes, Gibson put himself through the ringer, which is maybe what gives him a little more insight than the rest of us into the current drunken, disturbing exploits of Shia LaBeouf, who recently got himself arrested for a bizarre outburst on Broadway. In a conversation with IndieWire, Gibson weighed in.
“People are in line to sort of point the finger at him and say that he’s this, that, or the other. It’s easy to judge. But I’m sure he’s going through some kind of personal, very painful, cathartic thing that he has to exorcise and get out there …[Celebrities are] a target. And you have to be really adept at tap dancing and dodging the bullets. And sometimes you get hit. And sometimes mortally.”
Now, none of this excuses Gibson’s past behavior, but it’s a good reminder for these celebrity meltdowns …
