Gibson sorry for ‘stupid ramblings’

MEL GIBSON describes his anti-Semitic rant following his arrest for drink-driving in July “the stupid ramblings of a drunkard”.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, Gibson says that although staying sober is a struggle, he has not had a drink in 65 days.

He adds that he plans to continue making movies and working to heal himself and those he offended.

“All you can do is take another step, keep breathing,” he says, according to a partial transcript of the interview released by ABC.

Clean-shaven and casually dressed in jeans and a blue checkered shirt, Gibson says he began drinking two months before sheriff’s deputies arrested him in Malibu on July 28.

“Years go by, you’re fine,” he says. “And then all of a sudden in a heartbeat, in an instant, on an impulse, somebody shoves a glass of Mescal in front of your nose and says, ‘It’s from Oaxaca.’ And it’s burning its way through your oesophagus and you go, ‘Oh man, what did I do that for? I can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.’”

The interview with Sawyer is the first time Gibson has spoken to the media since sparking a scandal by unleashing what he later called “vitriolic and harmful words” during his arrest.

Gibson told the arresting officer: “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” and asked him, “Are you a Jew?” The 50-year-old actor-director says he knows there are some in Hollywood who will refuse to work with him because of those statements.

“I feel sad because they’ve been hurt and offended enough to feel that they have to do that,” he says.

Gibson pleaded no contest to charges of drunken driving on August 17 under a deal in which he will serve three years’ probation, pay a fine and attend alcohol rehabilitation classes. He also volunteered to make a public-service announcement about the hazards of drinking and driving.

Gibson had already sparked controversy in some Jewish circles with his film The Passion of the Christ which some felt portrayed Jews harshly.