Mel Gibson Rep Denies Reports About Polish Priest Biopic

By Gabriel Sanders July 6, 2007

Earlier this week, the JTA reported that Polish priest Henryk Jankowski, a prominent figure in the Solidarity movement, said in an interview with a right-wing Polish daily that he was in talks with Mel Gibson about a possible film.

For those looking for ammunition against the beleaguered director, the news seemed too good to be true. Jankowski made waves in 1997 when he said that there was no place for Jews in the Polish government. Gibson made waves of his own last year when he — oh, you know why.

Asked by the Forward if there was any truth to the rumors, Gibson flack Alan Nierob offered an emphatic “no.” “Neither my client, Mel Gibson, nor his company Icon Productions is involved in any project relating to this matter,” Nierob wrote in an e-mail to the Forward. “They have no knowledge of this.”

One imagines Jankowski will probably bounce back from the snub. According to recent press reports, the cleric has a number of other irons in the fire, including perfume, wine and clothing lines branded with his image.

Jankowski also made news this week when it was reported that a chain of cafés he was opening would employ only sexy waitresses.

“Ugly women need not apply,” he reportedly said.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO