Braveheart star Mel Gibson has said that renewed allegations from Winona Ryder of anti-Semitic comments are “100% untrue”.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, Ryder claimed that the actor had asked her if she was an “oven dodger” at a party around 25 years ago, in an apparent reference to her Jewish background.
She told the publication: “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get Aids?’
“And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”
READ MORE: Tina Fey apologises and withdraws blackface episodes of 30 Rock
Ryder first accused Gibson of anti-Semitism in GQ magazine in 2010, suggesting Gibson was referencing the gas chambers used by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
In 2006, Gibson was recorded delivering a controversial anti-Semitic rant after a drink-driving arrest.
The 48-year-old actress also said Gibson, 64, had tried to apologise to her at a later date.
A representative of Gibson said: “This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now.
“Also, she lied about him trying to apologise to her back then. He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”
In her response to Gibson’s denial, Ryder named the friend she was with at the time of the alleged incident as the late makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin and said the altercation remains a “painful and vivid memory”.
She said: “I believe in redemption and forgiveness and hope that Mr Gibson has found a healthy way to deal with his demons, but I am not one of them.
READ MORE: Government should drop the Hate Crime Bill that endangers our tradition of free speech
“Around 1996, my friend Kevyn Aucoin and I were on the receiving end of his hateful words. It is a painful and vivid memory for me. Only by accepting responsibility for our behaviour in this life, can we make amends and truly respect each other, and I wish him well on this lifelong journey.”
In 2016 Gibson returned to directing for the first time in 10 years with World War 2 film Hacksaw Ridge, which tells the story of the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honour.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel