Break out your slide whistle, wetbacks, it looks like Mel Gibson is up to his old tricks again. This according to Joe Eszterhas, of Showgirls/Basic Instinct fame, who had been hired by Gibson to write
Here’s a partial excerpt:
An executive there [at WB] said the script had “no feeling” and “no sense of triumph.” (I vehemently disagree). He said you would be calling me imminently, but you haven’t.
I spent nearly two years researching and writing my script and I am deeply disappointed that you haven’t had the decency to respond to it.
I’ve come to the conclusion that you never had, or have, any intention of making a film about the Maccabees. I believe you announced the project with great fanfare — “a Jewish Braveheart” — in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-semitism which have dogged you.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason you won’t make The Maccabees is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews.
Let me remind you of some of the things you said which appalled me. You continually called Jews “Hebes” and “oven-dodgers” and “Jewboys.” It seemed that most times when we discussed someone, you asked ‘He’s a Hebe, isn’t he?’ You said most ‘gatekeepers’ of American companies were ‘Hebes’ who ‘controlled their bosses.’
You said the Holocaust was “mostly a lot of horseshit.” You said the Torah made reference to the sacrifice of Christian babies and infants. When I told you that you were confusing the Torah with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, … you insisted “it’s in the Torah — it’s in there!” (It isn’t).
Perhaps most disturbing, as I wrote out the script, was a comment you made to me in your Malibu house. It came out of the blue, while you were playing on the living room floor with your little girl, Luci. “What I really want to do with this movie,” you said, “is to convert the Jews to Christianity.”
…I asked to go to Israel and speak with biblical scholars there — as I had gone to Jerusalem and Yad Vashem to research Music Box. But you rejected that and said “My guys here know much more than those Hebes over there.”
[Here Eszterhas details Gibson’s various raving threats against his ex-wife Oksana Grigorieva, including saying he was going to have his friends in the FBI have her killed]
Shortly after we got there [Gibson’s property in Costa Rica, where they were to work on the script], you and my [15-year-old] son Nick and some others went surfing. On the way to the sea, walking along in the sand, you turned to Nick and said, “I want to f*ck her in the ass and stab her to death while I’m doing it.” […]
Naomi and I heard other things from you too. Usually at the dinner table or in the car, always with Nick there. About John Lennon: “I’m glad he’s dead. He deserved to be shot. He was f*cking messianic. Listen to his songs! Imagine. I hate that f*cking song. I’m glad he’s dead.” […]
[on Mel Gibson seeing a recent photograph of himself looking old]
You hurled your cell phone into a wall and started to scream, “I look so f*cking old! I look horrible! That f*cking whore is destroying me! She’s taking my looks! I hate her! She’s destroying my life!”
You jumped up, screaming full-throated: “Look at me!! f*cking look at me! Look how terrible I look! Answer me, God! Why did you turn your back on me?! f*ck you! f*ck you!” You stepped a few feet away and screamed into the sky, “I’m not gonna take it up the ass anymore and say, ‘Thank you, your honor!”
[…]
PS I’ve sent this letter to no one else except Nick Guerra, your assistant, per his previous instructions that I send him whatever I send to you so he can make sure you’ve received it. [TheWrap]
To make a long story short, wow. I am shocked and appalled. Everyone knows it’s spelled “heeb.”
I’m also a little curious as to how this letter got leaked to TheWrap when Eszterhas claimed that it wasn’t meant to be public. I guess we have to assume the leaker was this Nick Guerra person. He does sound like he might be a bit of a wetback. Just one of the many Mel Gibson gives money to, no doubt.
Gibson has sinced written an open letter of his own, posted on Deadline, which is fitting, because Deadline and TheWrap are kind of like the Mel Gibson and Joe Eszterhas of movie websites.
Joe,
I have your letter. I am not going to respond to it line by line, but I will say that the great majority of the facts as well as the statements and actions attributed to me in your letter are utter fabrications. I would have thought that a man of principle, as you purport to be, would have withdrawn from the project regardless of the money if you truly believed me to be the person you describe in your letter. I guess you only had a problem with me after Warner Brothers rejected your script.
I will acknowledge like most creative people I am passionate and intense. I was very frustrated that when you arrived at my home at the expense of both Warner Brothers and myself you hadn’t written a single word of a script or even an outline after 15 months of research, meetings, discussions and the outpouring of my heartfelt vision for this story. I did react more strongly than I should have. I promptly sent you a written apology, the colorful words of which you apparently now find offensive. Let me now clearly apologize to you and your family in the simplest of terms.
Contrary to your assertion that I was only developing Maccabees to burnish my tarnished reputation, I have been working on this project for over 10 years and it was publicly announced 8 years ago. I absolutely want to make this movie; it’s just that neither Warner Brothers nor I want to make this movie based on your script.
Honestly, Joe, not only was the script delivered later than you promised, both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time. The decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor.
I think that we can agree that this should be our last communication.
Mel
It’s hard to trust everything Eszterhas says, given that he’s been known to exaggerate and this is an overt case of sour grapes. That said, it’s hard not to believe that Mel Gibson has a tendency to shout crazy things. At least when Mel flies off the handle, he does it with flair. He doesn’t just get angry, he screams that John Lennon deserved to get shot and promises anal sex with a corpse. I find it strangely endearing. He acts like cartoon supervillain, but with no superpowers. He’s like a murderous, de-clawed kitten.