Mel Gibson Calls Robert Downey Jr. "Bold and Generous" For Urging Hollywood To Forgive Him

Mel Gibson recently talked about his longtime friend Robert Downey Jr. and praised him for being “bold and generous and kind” for urging Hollywood to forgive him after his infamous 2006 arrest, after he made antisemitic remarks. Gibson’s career in Hollywood tanked after that all went down.

Gibson and Downey Jr. starred together in the film Air America, and when talking about his experience Gibson said in an interview with Esquire: “One time, I got into a bit of a sticky situation where it kind of ended my career. I was drunk in the back of a police car and I said some stupid shit, and all of a sudden: blacklisted.”

He went on to say: “I’m the poster boy for canceled. A couple of years into that [Robert] invited me to some kind of award he was getting—we always had this kind of seesaw thing, where if he was on the wagon, I was falling off, and if I was on the wagon, he was falling off. So I was pretty much nonexistent in Hollywood at the time, and he stood up and spoke for me. It was a bold and generous and kind gesture. I loved him for that.”

I don’t blame people for being pissed off at Gibson for his comments. He said some terrible things. Even today, when I post an article about Gibson, I still get comments from people telling me how much they hate him.

During Downey’s speech, at the 2011 American Cinematheque Awards ceremony, where the actor was the recipient of the annual prize, he used his time to speak on Gibson’s behalf. He asked Hollywood to join him in “forgiving my friend his trespasses, offering [Gibson] the same clean slate you have given me, and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame.”

Downey went on to say: “Unless you are completely without sin, in which case you picked the wrong f –king industry,” then you should consider giving Gibson a second chance.

As you know, Gibson knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom and then be given a second chance. IN 1996, he was arrested for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded gun and given three years of probation.

He was later sent to jail for nearly four months a year later after skipping a court-ordered drug test. He skipped another test in 1999 and was sentenced to three years in prison. Downey served 15 months, then was arrested again four months after his release for drug possession.

Then Jon Favreau and David Maisel came along and gave Downey his big chance with Iron Man, and his life changed after that.

Downey Jr. was former Marvel Studios’ president David Maisel’s top pick, and he said “my board thought I was crazy to put the future of the company in the hands of an addict.” He added: “I helped them understand how great he was for the role. We all had confidence that he was clean and would stay clean.” 

Gibson’s career has never returned to its peak after his arrest. But, he has continued to work as an actor and director, and one of the best things he’s down in recent years was the 2016 WWII drama Hacksaw Ridge, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director.