Mel Gibson DUI incident

Mel Gibson's mugshot from his July 28, 2006 arrest for DUI

On July 28, 2006, at 2:36am PDT, American actor, director, and producer Mel Gibson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol while speeding (84 mph/140 km per hour in a 45 mph/72 km/h zone) in his 2006 Lexus LS 430 on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California. The arrest was supported by blood-alcohol testing reported as "0.12%" (the state's legal limit is 0.08%) and an open container, 750ml at 75% full, labeled "Cazadores Tequila". 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 blurted anti-Semitic remarks and asked, "Are you a Jew?" to Mee, who is Jewish. Gibson was videotaped by Sgt. T. Palmer upon reaching the police station. An anonymous TMZ.com source reported that Gibson asked a female sergeant "What are you looking at, sugartits?" although this detail was not in Mee’s handwritten report. Mel Gibson's bail was set at $5,000, he was released near 9am PDT and driven 16 km in a marked patrol car to retrieve his Lexus sedan.

Later that night, TMZ.com broke the story of Gibson’s belligerent behavior. Gibson released an apology for his behavior the next day, and the resulting media frenzy (in both the regular news media and satirical shows) made the incident infamous overnight and prompted a second public apology from Gibson.

Charge and plea

On August 2, 2006, Mel Gibson was formally charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, setting an arraignment date of September 28; however, on August 18, 2006, Mel Gibson pleaded no contest to one count of driving with blood alcohol content above .08%; the other charges were dropped, and the judge sentenced Gibson to three years probation, 90-day alcohol-abuse program, 12 months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (detailed below), and fined $1,300 with a 90-day license restriction. Gibson volunteered to do public-service announcements on hazards of drinking and driving, and to enter rehab.

Public response

The talent agency representing Mel Gibson released apologetic statements. Michael Levine (a notable Hollywood publicist) stated "I can't see how the career that he had previous to this event can ever be restored," and within days, citing a two-year delay, ABC announced removal of Mel Gibson from the planned mini-series about Holocaust survivor Flory A. Van Beek, Flory: Survival in the Valley of Death (more responses below).

Coincidentally, the Mel Gibson DUI incident occurred on the same day as another major antisemitic incident in America, the July 2006 Seattle Jewish Federation shooting, though that deadly attack received far less media coverage than the Gibson incident.

Public apology

Mel Gibson released a general public apology the day after the arrest. On August 1, 2006, Mel Gibson released a lengthy apology (quoted below), especially addressing the Jewish community, and some Jewish leaders were quoted as accepting the second apology, along with Holocaust survivor Flory Van Beek.

In the media

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stated that the investigation into claims of celebrity favoritism would also examine how the officer's original internal report was leaked to the media. Media reaction was mixed, with some explaining belligerent behavior from drinking tequila, some claiming bigotry, and others noting the 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict, which was in its 17th day at the time of the incident. Extensive details are documented below.

Leaked police report and allegations of special treatment

A four-page excerpt of the original police report by Deputy James Mee, in the form of a PDF file, was confirmed and printed as a transcript in the LA times, omitting profanity and the word "Belligerent" as unreadable. The report states that Gibson was taped during the arrest, and the tape also contained recordings of other police incidents during that time.

On the evening of Gibson's arrest, the four-page portion of the allegedly suppressed police report was posted on the entertainment website TMZ.com, and subsequently at Slate.com, as the original report written by the arresting officer, seventeen year veteran officer Deputy James Mee, before he was allegedly instructed by his superiors to omit details about Gibson's alleged anti-Semitic comments and abusive behavior. The leaked police report alleges that Gibson stated, "Fucking Jews...the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" and then asked Deputy Mee if he was Jewish. The LA Times confirmed the four-page excerpt was from the arrest report, also confirming Deputy Mee as Jewish. The report further alleges that Gibson refused to be transported to the police station and had to be restrained. 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%). See also: Effects of alcohol on the body. In addition to four-pages of Mee's arrest report, TMZ supplied further details from an unnamed law enforcement source, including that Gibson asked a female sergeant, "What are you looking at, sugar tits?" and attempted to urinate on the floor when he was not taken to the restroom.

A day after TMZ's report, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times reported that unnamed sources confirmed to them independently that the leaked documents were authentic. The Associated Press later reported that an official police report contained Gibson's alleged comments. The authenticity of the leaked police 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. Booked at 4:06am PDT, Gibson was released 5 hours later, around 9am PDT. Gibson was driven by law enforcement ten miles (16 km) in a marked patrol car to a tow yard to retrieve his car, a service which is not usually provided by the police department, but which the department defended as occasionally available for individuals who are at risk of harassment by paparazzi and others, due to being public figures. However the Department's civilian oversight Office of Independent Review opened an investigation into whether Gibson received special treatment due to his celebrity status. TMZ later alleged that Gibson has been stopped twice before in Malibu for drunk driving but was released without a citation.

TMZ has also 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 have declined to release the tape, citing the investigative records exemption, which permits otherwise public records to be withheld if there is an ongoing investigation. TMZ has not filed suit to date to challenge the Sheriff Department's ruling. It is unclear if the tape will become available at a later time.

There has been questions concerning possible special treatment in the filing of charges by the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Under California law, the prosecution may allege in the criminal complaint that the defendant was driving at speeds in excess of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) on a surface street or 30 mph (48 km/h) on a highway over the speed limit. If admitted or proven true, this adds an automatic 60 days in jail to the sentence. Although Mr. Gibson was reportedly traveling at 87 mph (140 km/h) in a 45 mph (72 km/h) zone, no excess speeding complaint was filed and he received no jail time.

As a result of the circumstances surrounding Gibson’s arrest, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, proposed legislation ("Mel's Law") that would criminalize the sale of privileged information pertaining to the arrests of high-profile suspects. The lawmaker argued that Mel Gibson's due process rights were violated by the unauthorized leak of prejudicial allegations before he had received due process. Bill AB920 was approved unanimously by the California state assembly in May 2007 and unanimously by the state senate in September 2007.

Media coverage, first apology, and reaction

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", a reference to Gibson's breakout role in the film Mad Max. Gibson's remarks to the officer during his arrest prompted renewed accusations that the actor is anti-Semitic. Previously, he had been accused of infusing his movie The Passion of the Christ with anti-Semitic messages and overtone, and one of the most controversial lines was un-subtitled, but the audio not removed, in the film. Revelations that his father, Hutton Gibson, is a Holocaust denier further fueled such accusations. Gibson issued a statement on July 29, 2006, indicating that he was pursuing treatment for his alcoholism and apologizing for "belligerent" behavior and "despicable" remarks:

"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."

Supporters of Gibson blamed his alleged remarks on his intoxication while critics, such as Christopher Hitchens, accused Gibson of anti-Semitism. Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), one of The Passion's most vocal critics, stated that Gibson's initial apology (with no reference to the antisemitic remarks) was "unremorseful and insufficient" and that the ADL hoped "Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst."

Jeff Berg, head of ICM, the talent agency that has represented Gibson for 18 years, told the Los Angeles Times that Gibson had called him after the arrest and that Berg "was trying to communicate the actor's remorse to his staff and clients." Berg told the paper that "I hate what he said, and so does he" and that "his remarks have created a first class mess, and he has owned up to it." Publicist Micheal Levine told The Early Show, "I cannot see, having done this 25 years at a very high level, any plausible way that his career can be restored. I think that this incident was a career-ender." After the incident, ABC removed Gibson from the ongoing television mini-series about Holocaust survivor Flory Van Beek, citing lack of progress; however, the mini-series was intended to continue.

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."

Addiction psychiatrist Bryon Adinoff of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center stated "Clearly Jews are on his mind. ... It's something that's on his mind or it probably wouldn't come out when he had some alcohol."

Radio host Michael Medved, a strong supporter of the The Passion of the Christ, expressed humiliation at Gibson's anti-Semitic rant and condemned it. Nevertheless, Medved suggested reconciliation between the Jewish community and Gibson was preferable to shunning Gibson.

Comedian Bill Maher wrote that Gibson is struggling with anti-Semitism and that his real disease is not alcoholism, but his religion. Maher argued that the whole world is like Gibson (harboring latent anti-Semitism) when it comes to Israel and Jewish issues.

On the MSNBC program Scarborough Country, show producer Mike Yarvitz drank to raise his blood alcohol level to .12, matching Gibson's level in the report. Yarvitz emphasized "not feeling anti-Semitic" after drinking.

David Horowitz on the August 1 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes said "People deserve compassion when they're in this kind of trouble. I think it would be very ungracious for people to deny it to him."

John Derbyshire, a heavy critic of The Passion, in National Review, wrote, "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 defend the drunken outburst, "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."

The Internet Movie Database reported that Hollywood actor Rob Schneider, is the first actor to publicly come forward to express his ire towards Gibson for his anti-semitic comments. On August 2, 2006, he posted a full page ad in the Hollywood trade paper Variety, in which he stated that "I, Rob Schneider, a 1/2 Jew, pledge from this day forth to never work with Mel Gibson-actor-director-producer-and anti-Semite." He also stated that he would veto working with Gibson even if he was offered the lead role in The Passion of the Christ 2 or a "juicy voice over" role for Gibson's upcoming project Apocalypto. The statement also praised Hollywood talent manager Bernie Brillstein who also came out publicly to say that he refuses to work with Gibson because "(He) just doesn't like bigots." Schneider had just completed a film he had recently directed called Big Stan in which there was a part for a Nazi gang leader "which apparently Mel would be perfect for." Schneider said he would still not cast Gibson in that role and ended the letter by saying, "Of course that would only be after I talked with my financial backers. Some of whom share Mr. Gibson's hankering for a good bottle of tequila. Because, after all...I don't get to call all the shots."

A Fox News poll reported on August 11, 2006, that a large number of Americans would not allow the incident to affect their decision about whether to watch Gibson's future movies, reporting "eight out of 10 people say his arrest and negative comments about Jewish people will not make a difference to them," while 10% "probably" and 6% "definitely" would not attend Gibson's future movies.

Second apology

Gibson released another statement on August 1, 2006 specifically apologizing for his allegedly anti-Semitic remarks and asking the Jewish community to help him in his recovery.

"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.

"I am a public person, and 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. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.

"The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

"I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

"I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery.

"Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

"This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It's about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad."

After Gibson's second announcement, Foxman released another statement on behalf of the ADL accepting his apology. Gibson's publicist announced that Gibson entered "a program of recovery." Gibson entered an out-patient addiction recovery program at the Promises Center in Malibu leading to criticism that he had not entered an in-patient program.

Plea and sentencing

On August 18, 2006, Gibson's attorney, on his client's behalf, entered a plea of no contest to one count of driving while having a blood alcohol content higher than .08. The other charges were dropped, and Judge Lawrence J. Mira sentenced Gibson to three years probation, 4 1/2 months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings 5 times a week, followed by 7 1/2 months of meetings 3 times a week. Gibson also volunteered to do public-service announcements on the hazards of drinking and driving, and to immediately enter rehabilitation. He was also ordered to enroll in an alcohol-abuse program for three months, fined a total of $1,300 and had his license restricted for 90 days. At a May 2007 progress hearing, Judge Mira praised Gibson for complying with the terms of his probation, saying, "I know his extensive participation in a self-help program - and I should note he has done extensive work, beyond which was required."

Celebrities In Defense of Gibson

Several close friends and associates in Hollywood have come out to publicly defend Gibson, including Patrick Swayze, Jodie Foster and M. Night Shyamalan.. According to Dean Devlin, he considers Gibson "one of his best friends in Hollywood" and is quoted as saying "if Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense." Robert Downey Jr, who is Jewish on his father's side and has publicly defended Gibson during the controversy surrounding the The Passion of the Christ, argued Gibson was "caught in the act of being an imperfect human being."

Diane Sawyer Interview with Gibson

On October 13, 2006, Gibson told Diane Sawyer that he was "ashamed" of his remarks and that they were "the stupid ramblings of a drunkard". Gibson stated that 3 concerns may have led to his remarks: 1) the 2006 Lebanon War which was in its 17th day 2) the general level of escalating violence in the Middle East as relating to Israel over the last 40 years 3) the Jewish organizations that gave him a "brutal sort of public beating" over the making of The Passion of the Christ where he never heard a "single word of apology". When questioned about the influence of his father, Gibson stated:

We're talking about me right now. And me taking responsibility for my words and actions. And … I'm certainly not going to use him, to sort of put anything off of me. It isn't the explanation for what happened that night. It isn't. It has nothing to do with it. … That's in my own heart.

In popular culture

• Mel Gibson's blaming this incident on alcohol was parodied in the South Park episode "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy." This excuse was termed the "Mel Gibson defense". Also, the phrase "Did I ask you something, Sugartits?!" was used by Mrs. Garrison in the episode D-Yikes!.
• Chevy Chase portrayed a similar incident on the Law & Order episode "In Vino Veritas" that aired November 3, 2006, also using the phrase "sugar-tits."
• Saturday Night Live aired a parody of the movie trailer for Apocalypto with a reference to Gibson's "Sugartits" comment, along with anti-semitic scenes.
• Mel's apology was parodied on the Family Guy episode "Prick Up Your Ears."
• The unrated version of the 2007 parody film Epic Movie parodies Gibson's drunkeness, with a "Mel Gibson lookalike" (played by Gregory Jbara) calling "Edward" (played by Kal Penn) "Sugartits."
• A number of bloggers who have written about the November 17, 2006 on-stage racist rant by comic Michael Richards refer to this as Richards' "Mel Gibson Moment."
• Shortly after the incident occurred, Heavy.com hosted a "Dress-Up Mel Gibson" page to dress Gibson up in a variety of controversial outfits. This prompted further media coverage on FOX News . The dress-up page was created by freelance artist Normal Bob Smith.
• In the episode Release The Dogs from the comedy Two and a Half Men a policeman who has just arrested Alan Harper remarks "At least this clown didn't ask if I was Jewish".
• In several copies of MAD magazine including in one issue a Meldalini page which spoofed Gibson with an alternative cover and a first draft of his apology along with others.
• On the start of the Season 3 of Mind of Mencia, Carlos Mencia did a re-enactment of this incident.