Mel Gibson has spoken openly for the first time about his infamous abusive phone call to the mother of his child describing its leaking as the “worst moment of his life” and admitting he is still haunted by it today.
The recorded conversation, which was made to Russian baby mama Oksana Grigorieva in 2010, was leaked to the media and saw Gibson disappear from the Hollywood spotlight for almost a decade.
“Imagine the worst moment you have even had being recorded and broadcast to the world and it wasn’t meant to be public,” Gibson said. “You didn’t stand on a soapbox and do it, but that’s what happens, you know.”
It was the second meltdown incident that saw the Oscar-winner publicly humiliated, the first one being his drunken anti-Semitic rants toward a Jewish Los Angeles County Sheriff after being arrested for a DUI in Malibu back in 2006.
While Gibson’s films have earned more than $6 billion at the box office a string of scandals saw him dramatically fall from grace.
“For other people it is called a nervous breakdown, for me it is something else,” he said. “I don’t even know what they called it.”
He said that he regrets his obscene outburst, which contained numerous threats as well as a number of racial slurs, but claims Oksana released the tapes in order to extort a bigger share of his half-billion-dollar fortune in their divorce settlement.
The pair got together after Gibson’s divorce from his wife of 26 years, Robyn Moore, and have a daughter together…something Mel is prone to do with the women in his life, as his new flame, 26-year-old Rosalind Ross, is now expecting Gibson’s ninth child in early 2017.
Gibson today attributes his health to Alcoholics Anonymous and says sobriety is an ongoing battle.
“I am a member of 12-step program and I achieved sobriety like that. I’ve got 10 years of sobriety under my belt.”
“I had other lengths before that like eight years one time, fall off, four years, it’s like that, like through a revolving door.”
Meanwhile, Mel is poised for a triumphant directorial comeback, as his much praised and highly anticipated return to the director’s chair comes to cinemas in November in the form of the war epic Hacksaw Ridge, a project which re-teamed him with Braveheart scribe Randall Wallace.
But he admits he is still haunted for his public outbursts.
“It is disheartening when you have been like 10 years dry on the wagon, sober and you have to read every year or so that you’re loaded so that’s disappointing because it is like a public notice that you’re loaded but you’re not,” he said.
“[But] We can all get into to feeling sorry for ourselves, having a pity party about the past or what has happened, it is not worth it because it affects the present and it affects the future.”
“I mean they said ‘If you could sum up Hollywood in one word, what would it be?’ and it’s like ah… I think I said “survival”.”
And Mel has done more than just survive, both professionally and in life it appears he’s on the cusp of a serious and hopefully lasting comeback…a fitting second act for such a talented filmmaker.
Share your thoughts with us Celebrity Gossipers in the comments below! Be sure to subscribe to our newsletters. But don’t forget to like us on FACEBOOK!
Like this? You’ll also like…
James Franco Sued For Head-Butting a Paparazzi Photographer?
The Greatest Celebrity Halloween Costumes
EXCLUSIVE: Brangelina Former Bodyguard Claims To Be Their Kids’ Father Figure
