LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson calls his anti-Semitic rant following his arrest for
drunk driving in July "the stupid ramblings of a drunkard." In an interview with
Diane Sawyer set to air on "Good Morning America" on Thursday and Friday, Gibson
says that though staying sober is a struggle, he has not had a drink in 65 days.
In this undated photo released by
ABC, co-host Diane Sawyer, right, talks with actor Mel Gibson during a
two-part interview that will air on ABC's 'Good Morning America,' on
Thursday, Oct. 12 and Friday, Oct. 13, 2006. This is the first time Gibson
has talked to the media since his drunken-driving arrest and subsequent
anti-Semitic tirade on July 28. [AP] |
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
tells Sawyer 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 esophagus 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 last thing I want to be is that kind of monster," he tells Sawyer in the
interview.
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 obviously been hurt and frightened and offended
enough to feel that they have to do that," he says. "Um, and it's their choice.
There's nothing I can do about that."
Gibson pleaded no contest to charges of drunken driving on Aug. 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.
