Mel Gibson Seeks 'Path For Healing'

Actor Asks To Meet With Jewish Community Leaders

(CBS/AP)  Gibson, 50, has had an edgy relationship with Jewish organizations since the success of his 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ," which some criticized for portraying Jews as responsible for the death of Jesus. Supporters said the movie merely followed the Gospel story.

"Anti-Semitism is not born in one day and cannot be cured in one day and certainly not through the issuing of a press release," said a statement from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Gibson should read about Jewish persecution and the Holocaust and "visit sites where it occurred," Hier added by telephone from Israel.

"When Mr. Gibson embarks on a serious long-term effort to address that bigotry and anti-Semitism, he will find the Jewish community more than willing to engage and help him," he said.

Gibson, a top star of the 1980s for the "Lethal Weapon" series and winner of the best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart," has long acknowledged problems with alcohol. In a Saturday statement, he said he acted "completely out of control" during his arrest.

Witnesses said Gibson had been drinking at a Malibu beachfront restaurant called Moonshadows before his car was stopped. Widely distributed photos show Gibson with his arms around several young women at the restaurant shortly before his arrest.

The Sheriff's Department initially did not mention Gibson's remarks when giving an account of his arrest, with a sheriff's spokesman claiming the arrest was made "without incident."

Gennaco, the attorney who oversees the sheriff's watchdog, said he wouldn't have described the arrest that way. The deputy's decision not to handcuff Gibson was within department policy, added Gennaco, saying the department generally prefers to have suspects handcuffed but that officers have discretion whether to do that.

Also, the department turned over all necessary information to the district attorney's office, he said.

Gennaco, however, couldn't say whether the department had tried to shield Gibson's remarks from the public when the original arrest report was ordered modified and the comments placed in a supplemental report instead.

"That question I don't have an answer to," he said.

The department has denied any cover up.