Is Mel Gibson no longer one of Hollywood's most controversial figures? He probably should be, but the actor behind antisemitic, racist, and homophobic rants just keeps on making movies these days.
Mel Gibson cast in another new movie, Hot Seat
This week, Deadline announced that the 65-year-old was cast in yet another new film, this time a thriller called Hot Seat.
They reported a statement from the producers that even calls Gibson "an iconic and exceptional artist" whom they "couldn't be happier" to work with — but they include no mention of his history of openly hateful and violent comments.
And this is nothing new. Gibson's hate speech controversies — some of which are alleged while others exist in recordings, interviews, and police reports — mainly occurred in the '90s and early 2000s, after which he disappeared from Hollywood for a brief time.
But the well-documented rants about Jews and the LGBTQ community and use of the n-word only kept Gibson out of the movie business for... a couple years.
Since 2010, he's appeared in about 10 films, perhaps the most notable ones being The Beaver, Daddy's Home 2, and last year's Santa Clause film Fatman.
His most seen work over that time, however, was as director of the Oscar-nominated 2016 war film Hacksaw Ridge, which some saw as his Hollywood comeback.
But it now appears we'll be seeing a lot more of Mel's face on the big screen. IMDb has him lined up to act in 10 new projects that are either finished or in post- or pre-production. Most are action or crime films.
And, as with this week's casting news, Gibson landing new film roles no longer seems to even be a story. Most appear satisfied with that outcome, and Gibson's post-controversy resurgence has even had big-name supporters, including Robert Downey Jr., himself a one-time outcast whom Hollywood forgave after addiction struggles.
Should Mel Gibson be forgiven?
Forgiveness is a tricky subject and discussions about "cancel culture" are as heated as ever today. Gibson's case is about as extreme as they come.
He has blamed alcohol and, in one case, even a "moment of insanity" for his range of vile behaviour, and he's said to have sought treatment and tried working with Jewish leaders as an act of "healing."
But others are less willing to forgive Gibson. That group includes actress Winona Ryder, who recently revisited the antisemitic and homophobic comments Gibson allegedly said to her in the '90s. He denied her claims when they came up last year.
In the end, whether you like it or not, Mel Gibson is about to be on screens more in the next few years than he has been in about the last 20.
Maybe he's changed, maybe he hasn't. But let's not forget where we're coming from here when Mel is labelled only "an iconic and exceptional artist."
It's a more complicated conversation than that — and it should be, especially for the sake of those targeted by Gibson's hateful behaviour of the past.
One of the greatest actors of his generation...
It's getting gritty
