Mel Gibson breaks silence on domestic violence scandal

Mel Gibson has broken his silence on his damaging domestic violence scandal, calling the leak of angry personal phone calls with his then-girlfriend last year a �personal betrayal.�

The Oscar-winning director of �Braveheart� described the leaked tapes, in which Gibson was heard ranting, swearing and threatening Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, �terribly humiliating and painful for my family.�

Gibson (picture) added that he did not care if he ever acted again.






�I�ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality � period,� Gibson told Hollywood journalist Allison Hope Weiner in a lengthy interview for website Deadline Hollywood yesterday.

Gibson last month pleaded no contest to a charge of hitting Grigorieva, the mother of his baby daughter, as their relationship broke down in early 2010.

He was sentenced to three years� probation, a year of counselling and community service.

In his first public comments on the saga, Gibson said the tapes of phone calls leaked a year ago were edited, adding; �It�s one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn�t represent what I truly believe or how I�ve treated people my entire life.�

�Who anticipates being recorded? ... Who could anticipate such a personal betrayal?� Gibson said.

Gibson�s long-time manager left him, his movie �The Beaver� was delayed for months, and actors on the sequel to comedy �Hangover 2� refused to work with him because of the fall-out of the sexist and racist remarks on the tapes.

They were leaked to the media as Gibson was trying to make an acting comeback after making vicious anti-Semitic remarks during a 2006 drunken driving arrest, and the end of his 28-year marriage.

The delayed movie �The Beaver�, in which Gibson plays a depressed husband who communicates through a beaver hand puppet, is now to be released in the United States on May 6.

But Gibson seemed unconcerned by what movie-goers would think of him as an actor now.

�I don�t care if I don�t act anymore,� he said. �I could easily not act again. It�s not a problem. I�m going to do something now because I want to do it and because it�s fun.�

Gibson said he was working on a �total bodice-ripping swashbuckling� comedy movie project in which he hoped to take a supporting role.

Actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster were among the few Hollywood stars to publicly defend Gibson at the height of the Grigorieva scandal last year.

Gibson was not surprised at the lack of support.

�Why would anyone want to speak publicly and drag themselves through this crap? ... Very many people are supportive of course, but you find out who your friends are.�

Lindsay Logan going to Jail for 120 days.

In spectacular Good Friday news, Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 120 days in jail for violating probation. She�s on her way there right now to be booked. Afterward, she can post bail. She has also been ordered to complete 480 hours of community service, 360 of which must be performed at the Downtown Women�s center and the remaining 120 at the LA County Morgue. Couldn�t have happened to a nicer person.

Granted, with good behavior and overcrowding, the four month sentence will probably be reduced to two weeks. At least it�s a start. They should just give Lindsay a Fast Pass for that place.

Charlie Sheen's  police escort to his show in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday is under investigation by state officials after it emerged the move was not properly authorized.

The former Two and a Half Men star was running late to his one-man comedy gig after he was held up in a Los Angeles court following a custody hearing with his estranged wife Brooke Mueller.



The troubled actor faced a mad dash across the U.S. to make it to his concert on the east coast in time and revealed on his Twitter.com account that he had been given special treatment by cops upon landing at Dulles International Airport in D.C..

He wrote, "In car with police escort in front and rear! Driving like someone's about to deliver a baby! Cop car lights #Spinning!"

He also posted a picture taken from the window of the car showing the police lights up ahead.

But Sheen's blog posts have landed the officers involved in trouble with department bosses - according to local councilman Phil Mendleson, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier did not grant permission for the escort.

On Friday, spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump confirmed the department's internal affairs unit was investigating the incident. The police representative refused to comment further on the controversy.

Sheen eventually took to the stage at the D.A.R. Constitution Hall an hour late.

Lindsay Lohan back in Gotti movie

John Gotti Jr (centre) poses with Travolta (left) and Lohan following a news conference in New York April 12, 2011.

Lindsay Lohan is back in a proposed film about the Gotti crime family after she personally persuaded its reluctant producer to give her a shot, he said yesterday.

The actress, whose promising career has been derailed by drug and criminal problems, had been in negotiations for a role in �Gotti: Three Generations,� starring John Travolta as mob boss John Gotti, Sr She even showed up at a news conference announcing the project last week.

But producer Marc Fiore said earlier yesterday that he had broken off talks because of demands made by Lohan�s management team, and planned to meet with other actresses.



Hours later, he appeared to have been swayed by the �Mean Girls� actress herself.

�We had a little rocky road today, but Lindsay definitely revived the situation,� Fiore told Reuters, adding that Lohan called him personally to plead her case.

Lohan will play Kim Gotti, the wife of Gotti�s namesake son, Fiore said. Previous media reports said she was in line to play his daughter, Victoria. Fiore said the Kim role was bigger since the movie is about the father-son relationship.

Fiore has the cooperation of retired mobster John Gotti, Jr, whose character has yet to be cast. His father, the so-called �Teflon Don,� died of cancer in 2002 while serving a life term for murder, racketeering, extortion and tax evasion.

Fiore said he hoped to announce a new director next week. Nick Cassavetes, who was originally attached, exited the project earlier this week because of a scheduling conflict.

Shooting is expected to start in October. Fiore said the budget for the self-financed film was US$70 million to US$80 million (RM210-RM240 million). He declined to specify the source of the funds.

New Jersey- and Los Angeles-based Fiore Films previously produced the 2008 DVD �National Lampoon�s One, Two, Many,� starring former Howard Stern radio sidekick �Stuttering� John Melendez.

Lohan, 24, is scheduled to appear at a Los Angeles preliminary court hearing tomorrow over a jewellery theft charge that will determine if she should stand trial. She could be sent to prison if eventually convicted.

The former child star has not headlined a movie since the widely ridiculed 2007 bomb �I Know Who Killed Me.�