Anti-Defamation League bosses and the police officer who arrested Mel Gibson in 2006 have blasted Gary Oldman for wading into the debate over the Braveheart star's racial slur scandal in a new interview.
Gibson burst into an anti-Semitic tirade while he was being arrested for drink-driving by a Jewish police officer, James Mee, in California eight years ago, and the case is back in the news this week following the release of Oldman's interview with Playboy magazine.
"We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me... I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things... We're all f**king hypocrites," says Oldman.
"That's what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word nigga or that f**king Jew? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy... Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him - and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough.
"He's like an outcast, a leper, you know? But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, 'That f***ing kraut' or 'F**k those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. You have to be very careful about what you say."
Mee has now spoken out to criticise The Dark Knight star for his remarks, telling TMZ.com, "I'm Jewish and why would I say that to discredit my own religious make-p? The N-word is a scary word. I would never even dream of using it. It sickens me that anyone would use that word... Jews have been persecuted and put down over the years. Why would I, as a Jew, do that to other races?... I feel sorry for people that need to say things about other people in order to justify themselves."
Anti-Defamation League director Abraham H. Foxman has released a statement which reads: "Mel Gibson's ostracization in Hollywood was not a matter of being 'politically incorrect', as Mr. Oldman suggests, but of paying the consequences for outing himself as a bigot and a hater. It is disturbing that Mr. Oldman appears to have bought into Mr. Gibson's warped and prejudiced world view."
Gibson publicly apologised for the outburst, claiming it was a "moment of insanity", and after three years probation, the arrest was removed from his record in 2009.
Oldman's representative Douglas Urbanski has since tried to clarify the actor's comments and insisted The Dark Knight star is not condoning Gibson's behaviour.
He tells Britain's The Independent newspaper, "On the topic of Mel Gibson, Gary does not 'defend' him... Political correctness is a thing that drives Gary and many many others crazy... In this interview, Gary is doing what many intelligent people do: he is illustrating the absurd by being absurd."
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source: newshub archive
