Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Gary Oldman Bashes ‘Hypocrites’ Who Shun Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson has finally found someone willing to stand up for him.

In an interview with Playboy magazine promoting his role in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” actor Gary Oldman donned his defender-of-pariah-celebrities cape, labeling the climate of political correctness in Hollywood as “crap.”

I don’t know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things,” the 56-year-old actor said. “We’re all f—–g hypocrites. That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n—-r or that fucking J–? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy.”

Oldman also had a kind word for Alec Baldwin, who recently made headlines when he made a homophobic slur to a paparazzo who was trying to take his picture.

“Alec (Baldwin) calling someone an F– in the street while he’s pissed off coming out of his building because they won’t leave him alone. I don’t blame him.”

It’s been almost eight years since Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade during his arrest on a DUI charge.

“So they persecute. 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—- kraut” or “F— those Germans,” whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That’s what gets me. It’s just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone, that we all stand on this thing going, ‘Isn’t that shocking?’

The New York Daily News points out that at this point, the self-described Libertarian seemed to realize that his words could be seen as offensive.

You have to edit and cut half of what I’ve said, because it’s going to make me sound like a bigot,” Oldman told his interviewer, reportedly told his interviewer.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.