“I think I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas” – Mel Gibson to WGNTV reporter while promoting his new movie before he curtly ends the interview and calls the reporter an asshole. What pushed Gibson over the edge? The entertainment reporter had the unmitigated gall to ask if Gibson was worried that audiences may perceive him differently because of the drunk driving arrest and his subsequent anti-semitic, sexist rant directed at one of the arresting officers.
The thing is, Gibson’s is another Imus blow up. Remember when Imus’ career was “over”, no one would support Imus? Well, he got a payout on his contract, got a bigger contract with a new station and is back to Imus being Imus.
Mel has enough money and has made enough money for people that no matter what he does there will be another job in Hollywood for him. No matter what kind of case is made against accepting Gibson going forward, its already too late, money talks, b.s. walks. He’s done the Hollywood comeback 3 step: apologize to anyone who may have been offended, go to a cushy rehab, come back, return to same dickish behavior that got you in trouble in the first place while saying something like I did what you wanted me to do, now what do ya want?. It’s just funny that people always wonder how famous people proving they are jerks will affect a performer’s career.
Answer: it won’t. As long as they follow the three step.
Once we have bought into the worth of celebrity (and our society is heavily invested), you’ve already admitted you just want a fallen star to make things go back to the way they were before they publicly confirmed they were an jerk.