Gibson admits remarks, says he's not a bigot

On Monday the Sheriff’s Department sent its case to prosecutors, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case. According to the official, the report states that a tequila bottle was found in Gibson’s car when he was pulled over on Pacific Coast Highway.

The department’s initial account of the arrest did not mention Gibson’s remarks. However, the law enforcement official quoted Gibson as saying, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” and asking the arresting officer, “Are you a Jew?”

The sheriff’s deputy who arrested Gibson said Monday he feels badly that the star’s reputation has been damaged but he hopes Gibson will think twice before drinking and driving again.

“I don’t take pride in hurting Mr. Gibson,” Deputy James Mee told The Associated Press during an interview outside his home.

Mee, who is Jewish, said he didn’t take Gibson’s remarks seriously.

“That stuff is booze talking,” the deputy said.

However, Gibson’s latest statement said he must take responsibility for making anti-Semitic remarks because as a public person, “when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena.”

Gibson noted that his apology and efforts to repair relations with the Jewish community “is not about a film.”

ABC announced late Monday that it had scrapped plans for Gibson to produce a miniseries on the Holocaust.

“This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have,” Gibson said.

To some people, however, it is about movies.

“I don’t think I want to see any more Mel Gibson movies,” Barbara Walters said Monday on the ABC talk show “The View.” ABC is owned by Disney, which was in the early stages of planning the marketing for Gibson’s next film “Apocalypto.”

This is not the first time Gibson has faced accusations of anti-Semitism. Gibson produced, directed and financed the 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which some Jewish leaders said cast Jews as the killers of Jesus. Days before “Passion” was released, Gibson’s father, Hutton Gibson, was quoted as saying the Holocaust was mostly “fiction.”

Gibson won a best-director Oscar for 1995’s “Braveheart” and starred in the “Lethal Weapon” and “Mad Max” films, among others.

In recent years, he has turned his attention to producing films and TV shows through his Icon Productions. The hundreds of millions of dollars he made from “The Passion” has given the star the ability to finance his own films, giving him a measure of independence from major studios. His last major starring role was in the 2002 film “Signs.” He played a supporting part in the 2003 film, “The Singing Detective,” which he also produced.

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