People hailed The Passion of the Christ as a classic at the time but I was never sure about the gratuitous violence and the strange attitudes of the man in other ways. Of course I could be entirely wrong but this latest is not a great surprise.

Having now read the whole piece, it's clear Gibson hasn't a leg to stand on with his comments. There was not even a context in which he could have justified himself. Thanks for posting it.

Oh, come on. Do you take seriously something said by a man who was drunk out of his mind and which he apologized for? Please. Go after the people, like Andrew Marr, who are Jew-bashers when they are sober.

Stephen, you might be interested in the way the BBC have reported this. Well after police had officially confirmed Gibson's anti-Jewish outbursts, well after Gibson effectively admitted them by apologising for them, well after both the New York Times and the Washington Post had reported the full story with Gibson's remarks quoted, the BBC posted a superficial account of Gibson's apology without mentioning anything about his remarks nor about WHY the "Passion" film, which they report as being controversial, was controversial. I'm pasting their report in below, as it stands at the time of this comment, because they may change it:
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Drink-driving Gibson says sorry

Mel Gibson is one of Hollywood's biggest stars

Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson has said he is "ashamed" of the actions that led to his arrest for drink-driving early on Friday morning.

The Oscar-winner, 50, was stopped while driving at speed along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.

He failed a breath test, was charged with drink-driving and freed on bail.

On Saturday, Gibson said he had battled alcoholism all his adult life and was sorry for his "horrific relapse" and for any "unbecoming behaviour".

He also paid tribute to the police officers who had arrested him.

"The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person," he said.

Gibson said he "acted like a person completely out of control" when he was arrested and said things "that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable".

"I take this opportunity to apologise to the deputies involved for my belligerent behaviour," he said.

"They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself."

Gibson's bail has been set at $5,000 (£2,680).

Devout Catholic

Gibson won a best director Oscar for his 1995 film Braveheart, in which he also starred.

His 2004 biblical epic, The Passion of the Christ, was recently named the most controversial movie to date by US magazine Entertainment Weekly.

A devout Catholic, Gibson shot the film depicting the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ in Aramaic and Latin. It took more than $600m (£337.5m) worldwide

His new film Apocalypto is set 3,000 years ago in central America and features dialogue spoken in an obscure Mayan dialect.

Gibson is also known for several other works, including the Lethal Weapon and Mad Max series of films in which he starred.

AP and the Guardian aren't reporting what he said, either. It's starting to look like the usual suspects...