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Originally posted by Hendrik
"This was the best movie Ive ever saw[sic]..."

...you must not have seen many movies, then...

...sigh...

. . . :o . . .

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Originally posted by al_bundy
I caught a bit of Jesus of Nazareth last night on History Channel. It's Easter season after all. The movie is supposed to be based purely on the Gospel of John and is considered by some the most acurate portrayal of Jesus on film. I caught the part right after the arrest, and surprisingly it went almost verabatim as TPOTC. Even Pilate didn't want to get involved because he wanted to stay out of religious quarrels.

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Mel Gibson asks Jewish community for help
SANDY COHEN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson said he is not a bigot but apologized Tuesday to "everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words" he said during his drunken driving arrest in Malibu.

"Hatred of any kind goes against my faith," Gibson said in a statement released through his publicist.

It was the second apology the 50-year-old Oscar winner has issued through publicist Alan Nierob since his Friday arrest.

"I'm not just asking for forgiveness," Gibson said. "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."

Gibson said he is "in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display."

"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark," said the 50-year-old Oscar winner. "Please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot."

Gibson made the offensive comments after he was pulled over for speeding early Friday in Malibu and arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol.

He was released several hours later after posting $5,000 bail.

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 the Pacific Coast Highway.

An arrest report posted on the celebrity news Web site TMZ quoted Gibson as saying, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the arresting officer, "Are you a Jew?"

The tirade may have cost Gibson a development deal. ABC announced Monday that it had decided to abandon a deal with Gibson's Icon Productions for a miniseries on the Holocaust.

"Given that it has been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project," ABC said in a one-sentence statement.

Network spokesman Kevin Brockman declined to say whether the decision to drop the project was connected Gibson's comments, but the announcement came only days after widespread reports of Gibson's remarks.

Gibson released a statement Saturday apologizing for having said "despicable" things during his arrest but did not specifically acknowledge making anti-Semitic comments. Gibson also said he had fought alcoholism all his life.

In his latest statement, Gibson said he had "personally offended" the Jewish community and asked it "to help me on my journey through recovery."

"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," he said.

It was not the first time Gibson has faced accusations of anti-Semitism. He produced, directed and financed "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."

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

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

"What I had hoped out of this is that he would think twice before he gets behind the wheel of a car and was drinking," added Mee, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff's department. "That would be my hope that this would accomplish that. I don't want to ruin his career. I don't want to defame him in any way or hurt him."

Mee, who is Jewish, would not comment specifically on what Gibson said but the deputy said he didn't take any of the remarks seriously.

"That stuff is booze talking," the deputy said.

The department's initial account of Gibson's arrest made no mention of any anti-Semitic remarks and said the arrest occurred without incident, leading to allegations that Mee's initial report had been "sanitized" and there was an effort to cover up the seriousness of what had happened.

Sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore insisted Monday there had been no cover-up and defended the department's handling of the case.

"We hope we've done it with not only professionalism and intelligence, but held to the highest standard of legal and moral imperative," Whitmore said.

Gibson has a history of problems with alcohol. He was arrested for investigation of drunken driving in Canada in 1984 after he was involved in a minor accident.

Nierob told The Associated Press on Monday the actor-director was involved in a program to deal with his drinking.

"The guy is trying to stay alive," Nierob said.

Gibson, 50, won a best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart," and starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, among others.

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Associated Press Writers Jeremiah Marquez and Andrew Glazer contributed to this report.

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