Did Cops Cover Up Mel Gibson Tirade?

Actor Allegedly Made Anti-Semitic Remarks After DUI Arrest

(CBS/AP) 
Gibson posted $5,000 bail and was released hours later.

In his statement, Gibson said he has struggled with alcoholism and had taken steps "to ensure my return to health."

TMZ also reports that Gibson has been stopped by police two other times, once three years ago when he was allegedly driving 74 miles per hour on Pacific Coast Highway and another time about a year ago when he was driving above the speed limit on the same highway. Both times, sources told TMZ that deputies let him go.

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Gibson's apology "unremorseful and insufficient." Foxman also called on Hollywood executives to "realize the bigot in their midst" and "distance themselves from this anti-Semite," the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Sunday, some in Hollywood debated whether Gibson's career could recover from the scandal.

"It's a nuclear disaster for him," said publicist Michael Levine, who has represented Michael Jackson and Charlton Heston, among others. "I don't see how he can restore himself."

But Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, said filmgoers could overlook the alleged ugly comments if a future Gibson film was perceived as worthwhile.

"Usually it comes down to the marketing of the movie and does the average person want to see the film," Dergarabedian said.

Gibson, 50, won a best-director Academy Award for 1995's "Braveheart," and also starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, among others,

In recent years, he has turned his attention to producing films and TV shows through his Icon Productions. His last major starring role was in the 2002 film "Signs." He played a supporting part in the 2003 film, "The Singing Detective," which he also produced.

The hundreds of millions of dollars he made producing the 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" has given the star the ability to finance his own films, giving him a measure of independence from the major studios.

Days before the release of "The Passion of the Christ," Gibson's father, Hutton Gibson, sparked controversy when he told an interviewer that the Holocaust was mostly "fiction."

"I think his peers are reading it as Mel is a very disturbed guy. His father probably filled his head when he was young with all this crazy anti-Semitic stuff, and maybe when Mel drinks he starts spouting that stuff out," Cagle told The Early Show.

"I have a feeling we will see him go into rehab," Cagle added.

Gibson's next project is "Apocalypto," a movie about the decline of the Mayan empire that is being distributed by The Walt Disney Co. The Walt Disney Co. also, through its ABC television network, has a development deal with Gibson's company to make a miniseries about the Holocaust, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, urged Gibson to drop the Holocaust project, telling the L.A. Times it would be "inappropriate."

Gibson is expected to appear in court Sept. 28 on his misdemeanor DUI charge, the newspaper says.