The Week: Most Recent celebrity-scandals

Irony alert: Mel Gibson to make Jewish hero movie

The Week — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:57:00 -0400

The story: Mel Gibson is — surprise, surprise — once again courting controversy. Deadline Hollywood reports that Gibson, widely reviled for his drunken 2006 tirade against Jews, is working with Warner Bros. and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct) to bring the story of the second-century-B.C. Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee, who led the revolt against the Greco-Syrian empire, to the big screen. Gibson will produce — and possibly star in and direct — the film. "This subject matter is a decided departure for the filmmaker famous for directing The Passion of the Christ...

Mel Gibson: All is forgiven?

The Week — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:01:00 -0400

The Beaver, a new film that stars Mel Gibson as a depressive who opts to communicate via a stuffed rodent puppet, premiered at the South by Southwest festival this week, inspiring (at least some) positive reviews, but raising new questions. Even before Gibson's much-publicized abuse of his girlfriend last year (he recently pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor battery), the actor had earned a reputation as an anti-Semite and had effectively been blacklisted from mainstream Hollywood. Will audiences pay to see Gibson on the big screen again?

Give the guy a break: Gibson "is the most loved...

'The Beaver' trailer: Beginning of a Mel Gibson comeback?

The Week — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:42:00 -0500

The video: Mel Gibson himself was saying "my career is over" last July, after the actor/director was accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva and several offensive phone recordings of Gibson ranting at her were posted online. Given the scandal, critics questioned the fate of an upcoming Gibson vehicle, The Beaver, in which he plays "a hopelessly depressed individual" who turns to a beaver puppet to help him win back his estranged wife. Now a trailer for the dramedy — directed by and co-starring Jodie Foster (a noted Gibson supporter) — has debuted, and commentators are...

Mel Gibson vs. 'The Hangover 2'

The Week — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 18:37:00 -0400

Late last week, Warner Bros. and director Todd Phillips confirmed that Mel Gibson would no longer be making a cameo in The Hangover 2 because some members of the cast and crew (comedian Zach Galifianakis reportedly led the charge) objected to working with the actor, who's embroiled in a domestic violence scandal. Some observers considered The Hangover 2 Gibson's best shot at a comeback, and the actor is reportedly "furious" at the decision, especially given that Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist, made an appearance in the first Hangover flick without major controversy. Is Gibson facing a double-standard...

Can Mel Gibson's 'Hangover 2' cameo save his career?

The Week — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:00:00 -0400

Scandal-plagued Mel Gibson is trying to begin rebuilding his career by appearing as a Bangkok tattoo artist in The Hangover 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2009 hit comedy. Gibson has a long road back — he has been dropped by his Hollywood talent agency, and scorned by fans over allegations that he assaulted and threatened his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. But troubled former boxer Mike Tyson got a publicity lift from his role as a Phil Collins–singing eccentric in the first Hangover. Can this movie do the same for Gibson?

This is the start of Gibson's comeback: "Mel is a...

Could Mel Gibson win an Oscar?

The Week — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:33:00 -0400

When recordings of Mel Gibson's alarming phone conversations with his ex-girlfriend and baby mama Oksana Grigorieva went public this summer, it seemed that Hollywood would excommunicate the apparently unstable actor (already notorious for his drunken anti-Semetic rants in 2006) for good. But now there's talk of an Oscar nod for his starring role in The Beaver, and the upcoming film's director, Jodie Foster, has voiced her support: "Mel is an undeniably gifted actor and director...a true and loyal friend. I hope I can help him get through this dark moment." Still, an Academy Award?

Gibson...

Is it time to feel sorry for Octomom?

The Week — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:16:00 -0400

Nadya Suleman, better known as Octomom, earned instant notoriety and charges of irresponsibility when she gave birth to octuplets (conceived via in vitro fertilization) in January 2009. The single mother's attempts to milk that notoriety to support her brood prompted more criticism. Now her 15 minutes of fame have run out, she's struggling to feed her children, 14 in all, and is on the verge of applying for welfare. Does the divisive celebrity mom now deserve our pity — and tax dollars? (Watch a report about the Octomom's foreclosure crisis)

Suleman is a casualty of celebrity culture: ...

Octomom's foreclosure crisis

The Week — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:25:00 -0400

Sandra Bullock's (scandal-free) comeback interview

The Week — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:42:00 -0400

The video: Sandra Bullock's first television interview since she split with her notoriously adulterous husband, Jesse James, was anything but salacious. Conspicuously avoiding any mention of the scandal, the "Today" show's Matt Lauer queried Bullock on her charitable work in New Orleans and her recent adoption of her 8-month-old son, Louis (my "little Cajun cookie"). The adoption "was a long process," she told Lauer. "I did not circumvent. I wanted to do everything exactly the same way everyone else did... [I]t was nice to have someone say, I think you're a fit parent." She then credited her...

Who's leaking Mel Gibson's taped rants?

The Week — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:15:00 -0400

In its ongoing exposé of Mel Gibson, Radar Online released yet another damning, profanity-laced audio clip earlier this week. This time, ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva accuses Gibson of hitting their infant daughter. While Grigorieva has apparently admitted that she recorded the tapes, she denies leaking them. Meanwhile, Gibson's camp is charging her with extortion, alleging that she demanded millions to keep the tapes private. Is a third party involved? And what's the point of the slow leak? (Watch an AP report about Gibson's claims)

Grigorieva has to be the leaker: In a tactical error...

Will Mel Gibson go to jail?

The Week — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0400

As the disturbing drama around Mel Gibson unfolds, legal experts and gossip hounds alike are beginning to ask whether the Hollywood star could wind up in jail. Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of Gibson's 8-month-old daughter, Lucia, has told police that the Oscar-winner punched her in the face during an argument, chipping her front teeth, according to Radar Online. Last week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff confirmed that in addition to investigating a domestic violence incident between Gibson and Grigorieva, it's now also investigating Gibson on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Is Gibson...

Mel Gibson: Conservative icon

The Week — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:05:00 -0400

Mel Gibson's "spittle-spangled" audio assaults on his girlfriend were "instant Web and cable-TV sensations," says Frank Rich in The New York Times. But the movie star's public implosion tells a bigger story, too. Back in 2004, following the release of his film The Passion of the Christ, Gibson was a "powerful and canonized figure in the political and cultural pantheon of American conservatism." The fact that he has no defenders today shows that the religious right has suffered nearly as preciptous a fall as its Hollywood standard bearer:

It seems preposterous in retrospect that a film as bigoted...

Diagnosing Mel Gibson: 4 Theories

The Week — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:30:00 -0400

Is Mel Gibson suffering from an identifiable mental illness? With audio evidence of Gibson's profane, seemingly unhinged calls to his former girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, mounting daily, journalists are confronting mental-health experts with that question. (Watch some celebrities shares their thoughts.) While the actor-director has publicly battled an alcohol problem and claimed in 2008 that he'd been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, some authorities say these tapes suggest more than a mere manic or drunken episode. Here are four theories:

1. Gibson is a textbook abuser
Telling Grigorieva that...

Mel Gibson: 'My career is over'

The Week — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:45:00 -0400

Though Mel Gibson's career bounced back from his infamous drunken anti-Semitic tirade in 2006, some think his latest outburst — a profanity-laden phone conversation with his ex-girlfriend and baby mama Oksana Grigorieva in which he suggests that her "provocative" clothing would justify rape — may finally sink him. (Listen to a bleeped version below.) The tirade has already led Gibson's talent agency to end its relationship with him, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to open a domestic violence investigation into his relationship with Grigorieva. Just yesterday, a new Gibson...

The latest Tweets about 'Mel Gibson'

The Week — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:01:00 -0400

Mel Gibson's alleged racist rant

The Week — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:56:00 -0400