On July 28 , 2006 , at 2:36am PDT, Mel Gibson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence ( DUI ) of alcohol after being stopped for speeding (87 mph/140 km/h in a 45 mph/72 km/h zone) in his 2006 Lexus LS 430 on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. A breathalyzer test measured Gibson’s blood-alcohol level as "0.12%" (the state's legal limit is 0.08%), and next to him was an open container of "Cazadores Tequila," 750ml at 75% full. Gibson was described by the arresting officer James Mee as cooperative until arrested, at which point he became belligerent and experienced mood swings. While handcuffed in the car, Gibson made anti-Semitic remarks to Mee, who is Jewish. Gibson was released on bail at 9 am PDT. TMZ broke the story of Gibson's arrest for DUI on July 28 at 7 pm PDT and later that night posted photocopies of an unofficial arrest report. The next day Gibson confessed to driving under the influence and to "despicable" behavior during his arrest, and a frenzy of media coverage followed.
Arrest and leaked report
At 9:15 pm PDT the night of Gibson's arrest, TMZ.com posted a detailed account of Gibson's arrest, transport to the station, and time in custody. The website quoted an anonymous law enforcement source and posted four pages of a handwritten arrest report. TMZ claimed that the documents were part of the original eight-page report written by the arresting officer Deputy James Mee before he was allegedly instructed by his superiors to omit the inflammatory details about Gibson's alleged anti-Semitic comments and abusive behavior. The leaked report alleges that Gibson stated, "Fucking Jews...Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" and asked Deputy Mee, "Are you a Jew?" The report further alleges that Gibson refused to enter the patrol car and had to be handcuffed. He also allegedly claimed to "own" the city of Malibu, California. According to the report, Gibson's blood alcohol content was measured at 0.12% (the legal blood alcohol level limit for driving in California is 0.08%). Booked at 4:06am PDT, Gibson was released 5 hours later, around 9am PDT.
A day after Gibson's July 29 apology, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times reported that unnamed sources confirmed to them that the leaked documents were authentic. The Associated Press later reported that the official arrest report would cite the anti-Semitic comments. The authenticity of the leaked arrest report was neither confirmed nor denied by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, but the Department denied that a cover-up had taken place.
TMZ.com filed a formal request under the California Public Records Act to receive a copy of the audiotape of the arrest. To date, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has declined to release the tape, citing the investigative records exemption, which permits otherwise public records to be withheld if there is an ongoing investigation. Although three videotapes were used in an attempt to record Mel Gibson at the station, the tapes were either defective or missing. A Sheriff’s Department member claimed that a supervisor had deliberately erased one of the tapes because of inappropriate remarks made by department personnel. The Office of Independent Review of the L.A.S.D. could not find sufficient evidence to prove intentional erasures.
Confession and general apology
Gibson responded to the TMZ.com report on July 29 , 2006 by admitting to "belligerent behavior" and "despicable" remarks, and he apologized to the sheriff's deputies and everyone else he offended:
"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said and I apologize to anyone who I have offended. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health."
Gibson's publicist announced that Gibson entered an out-patient addiction recovery program leading to criticism that he had not entered a residential program. An unnamed source from Gibson's inner circle claimed that Gibson was on the verge of suicide the night of his arrest and was experiencing blackouts. Mainstream media coverage of the Gibson’s alleged behavior during the DUI arrest began soon after the release of his apology to the Sheriff’s deputies, and it was featured on the front page of several tabloids, including The New York Post ; many of these carried headlines along the lines of "Mad Mel". Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League issued a press release stating that Gibson's apology (with no explicit acknowledgment of anti-Semitic remarks) was "unremorseful and insufficient" and that the ADL hoped "that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite."
Apology to the Jewish community
Gibson released a second statement on August 1 , 2006 specifically apologizing for anti-Semitic remarks and asking to meet with leaders of the Jewish community to affect healing:
After this statement, Abraham Foxman accepted his apology on behalf of the ADL, and Holocaust survivor Flory Van Beek extended her forgiveness.
Unfortunately, this did little to revive a stalled acting career. since this event, Mel Gibson has had just 2 roles in "B" grade films.
Allegation of remark to female officer and subsequent denial
In its June 28, 2006 story, TMZ.com reported that Gibson asked an unidentified female sergeant at the station, "What are you looking at, sugar tits?", citing an unnamed law enforcement source. However, this allegation was not found in the accompanying report by arresting officer James Mee. In his 2006 interview with Diane Sawyer, Gibson remained silent after Sawyer read the alleged "sugar tits" quotation, while Gibson responded saying "that came out of my mouth," after hearing the quotation "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." In a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Kimmel told Gibson, "In my opinion the word sugartits is the greatest new word in the decade." Gibson replied that the term was falsely attributed to him and that "sugar tits" was a regular expression used by the arresting officer. Gibson added that he wished he had coined "sugar tits" because it is funny. The next day, TMZ.com reported the Gibson denial and did not defend their original story.
Response
Media coverage
In the summer of 2006, Mel Gibson's arrest and his subsequent apologies sparked a flurry of media reporting and commentary at a time when the major news story was the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, in its 17th day at the time of the DUI incident. Media figures debated the appropriate response to Gibson's alleged remarks and whether those remarks proved bigotry. Some members of the media expressed dismay that the coverage of Gibson's DUI arrest had become excessive.
Commentators offered differing opinions on the affects of alcohol and the disease of alcoholism in relation to remarks made while intoxicated. On the MSNBC program Scarborough Country , show producer Mike Yarvitz drank to raise his blood alcohol level to 0.12, matching Gibson's level in the report. Yarvitz emphasized "not feeling anti-Semitic" after drinking. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote, "Well, I'm sorry about his relapse, but I just don't buy the idea that a little tequila, or even a lot of tequila, can somehow turn an unbiased person into a raging anti-Semite - or a racist, or a homophobe, or a bigot of any kind, for that matter. Alcohol removes inhibitions, allowing all kinds of opinions to escape uncensored. But you can't blame alcohol for forming and nurturing those opinions in the first place." John Derbyshire, a critic of The Passion of the Christ , wrote in the National Review, "As little as I care for Mel and his splatter-fest Brit-hating oeuvre, though, I care even less for the schoolmarmish, prissy, squealing, skirt-clutching, sissified, feminized, pansified, preening moral vanity of the vile and anti-human Political Correctness cult." He went on to write, "The guy was drunk, for heaven's sake. We all say and do dumb things when we are drunk. If I were to be judged on my drunken escapades and follies, I should be utterly excluded from polite society, and so would you, unless you are some kind of saint." David Horowitz on the
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