Mel Gibson Welcomes New Baby, Flak For Oscars Nom
What a blessed/distressing morning for Mel Gibson, who welcomed a child with girlfriend Rosalind Ross — his ninth — but was met with some social media backlash after he earned an Oscar nomination. Social media users were quick to assess Gibson's praise for Hacksaw Ridge direction as an irresponsible pass from Hollywood that seemed to ignore the hateful, antisemitic rhetoric uber-conservative Gibson has spewed over the years.
Gibson and Ross welcomed the five-pound, five-ounce Lars Gerard Gibson on Friday (January 20) Entertainment Tonight reported last night (January 23). Gibson has seven children with ex-wife Robyn Moore, from whom he was formally divorced in 2011. He also shares a daughter with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.
Hours after the birth announcement, when Gibson's Oscar nom was formally announced, the former Braveheart winner took some serious flak from Twitter users who thought the entertainment community's choice to embrace Gibson was reckless.
Gibson has a history of substance abuse that has led to many disgraceful incidents — in 2006, after being pulled over for a DUI, Gibson shouted "the Jews are responsible for all of the wars in the world!" according to The New York Post. He also told Grigorieva in 2010 "If you get raped by a pack of n-----s, it’ll be your fault" over an audio tape that was collected from a phone conversation. He was charged with battery against Grigorieva in 2011, pled no contest and received no jail time.
Gibson's also issued a handful of homophobic sentiments across his career. In 1991, he told Spanish newspaper El Pais of gay men: "They take it up the ass. [laughs, stands up, bends over, points to anus] This is only for taking a s---." Later, when GLAAD pressed him for an apology, he told Playboy "I'll apologize when hell freezes over. They can f--- off."
Gibson told Deadline in August 2016 that he's been deliberately staying out of the limelight to recover and heal, noting "I didn’t want to just do the celebrity rehab thing for two weeks, declare myself cured and then screw up again. I think the best way somebody can show they’re sorry is to fix themselves and that’s what I’ve been doing."
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