Report: Mel Gibson's Ex-Girlfriend Demanded $10M

(CBS)  Celebrity website TMZ says sources linked to Mel Gibson tell it they have "hard evidence" that the actor's ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, tried to extort Gibson by demanding more than $10 million to keep tapes she had of him secret.

Gossip website RadarOnline has been posting several tapes of a man who sounds very much like Gibson, 54, in obscenity-laced tirades directed at a woman RadarOnline identifies as Grigorieva, a Russian singer.

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They're in a bitter child custody battle, which moved inside a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday, though neither of them attended the session.

Their eight-month-old daughter, Lucia, is the subject of the dispute, but tapes apparently recorded by Grigorieva, 40, have been in the media spotlight.

The fifth such tape, another expletive-filled rant by the man alleged to be Gibson, has him claiming he's spent $5 million on Grigorieva and calling her a gold-digger.

But, as CBS News Correspondent Ben Tracy reports, the Oscar-winner's lawyers assert the tapes have been edited, and at least one forensics expert agrees.

During the closed court session, Tracy says, attorneys for Grigorieva contended phone calls like the ones in the recordings are the reason Gibson can't be trusted.

In the latest, the man is heard saying, "I like to show you what mean really is, b**ch, c**t, whore, gold-digger. All true. You f***ing proved it to me."

The L.A. Sheriff's Department is investigating Gibson for domestic violence. Grigorieva has accused him of hitting her and waving a gun in her face.

Authorities received tapes from the court Thursday, though no one was saying whether the tapes they got included the ones RadarOnline posted.

"We will secure them, book them in to evidence," Steve Whitmore, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, told CBS News. "We will then begin the process of reviewing them, analyzing them."

But Gibson's lawyers allege that the phone calls have been edited, and forensic expert Frank Piazza says they have a point.

One he pointed to "definitely has edits, deliberate edits," Piazza told CBS News.

Gibson, an Oscar-winner once reportedly worth close to $1 billion, now says he's in a financial bind, Tracy says, and blames Grigorieva and her failed music career, which he helped bankroll.

At least, the man on the tape does. He says, "I spent too much G*d-damn money on you, and my wife knows," the man says. The woman says, "How much money do you spend on me? You don't spend more money on me than anybody else." The man replies, "I spent more than 5 million dollars on you!"

Gibson has eight children, seven with his wife of 28 years, Robin, who is expected to get a huge divorce settlement. In a letter to the court, Robin Gibson says Gibson never abused her and was a good father.

But, says Tracy, the words of the man on the tape may prove hard to explain, words such as, "I will never forgive you for what you've done to me. You f -- ing b-tch!"

The increasingly nasty custody battle is slated to continue in court next week.

CBS News legal analyst Lisa Bloom says the impact of the tape could be "huge," even if they were edited, and comments on a late report by celebrity website that Grigorieva demanded $10 million in hush money from Gibson to keep from going public with the tapes. Bloom says such reports are common in high-profile cases like this one:

[StephenG1999]

Hello: CBS News.

Are you following this story at all?

The Russian-Ukranian grifter (who had already snared James Bond actor Timothy Dalton in a pregnancy scam)stalked then propmptly got pregnant by Gibson.

The Russian then pushed Mel's buttons, got him to say awful things on secretely recorded tapes, then altered the tapes in post production.

The russian also faked photos of alleged injuries to herself and her child (a broken-tooth-by-punch photo with no lip damage (ha!), an allged bruse where Mel "hit" the baby last year, and an alleged black-eye photo (showing no tooth damage (double Ha!).

She then goes to private mediation through her lawyer Eric George, and in exchange for a confidentiality agreement, shared custody + $5K a month in child support, Gibson agreed to pay her $10,000,00.

The Russian got a case of the "greedies"; started tripping on how much Robyn Gibson was getting in the divorce THE RUSSIAN CAUSED ($400 million) and went nucelear.

Except that she has done her worst, she should have taken the $10 million and run, except like the greedy, stupid grifter she"blew the gaff"--screwed the pooch, and all she will get now is EITHER a well deserved jail cell or ordinary child support (Dalton pays her $2,500/month).

There are many other events that CBS News has missed, including a shake-down scheme perptrated by the Russian's "bodyguard", that threaten to land the grifter in jail or prision where she most assuredly belongs.h

[Cadamia]

This is the most incredibly stupid thing I have seen in a while. Mel Gibson is an actor. Not a role model. This is between 2 people not 2 people and the world. She wants people to do just what they are doing, get all upset and act a fool. She is setting him up and he is drunk enough most of the time to fall into her trap and the world is falling for her trick pony show.

[PoorMel]

HOPE THE HOLIER-THAN-THOU'S AND HYPOCRITES ON THIS BOARD NEVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHAT MEL IS GOING THROUGH.

[PoorMel]

It's interesting to note that all the pictures of Oksana, besides the one specifically showing the damage to her teeth, are of her looking sexy, demure or sympathetic. Most of the pictures of Mel appear to be caught mid sentence, mid glance and in the most unattractive poses possible. You don't think there is any journalistic bias going on here, do you?

[curiously1]

let the feast begin !...This is turning into another Tiger Woods thingy. May God save men who get rich in the U.S.

[gruven13777]

Never become financially involved with Russian women.

[LIBERALS-lie]

sounds like they need to have a beer/meeting at the white house...

[tex4justice]

I'm sick and tired of star-sh*t. Lisa Bloom & Mom, Jane Velez, Nancy Grace, Larry King and TMZ crave this crap and take it to the bank. All their star power needs to be cast into the filthy Gulf of Mexico that BP created. All that money for nothing needs to be given to the people who are struggling with real-life problems.

[voxpopulus]

I must say I was never as impressed by "Mad Max - the Christ", as some of you were. It was frankly ridiculous. Particularly the "Now I'm going to kick some real butt" resurrection.

[voxpopulus]

She's a gold digger. He's a sleazy abusive racist. They should have been ideal for each other.