Mel Gibson’s handler abruptly shut down an interview with Jesse Watters on Friday after the Fox News host asked the veteran actor, who is no stranger to onstage conflict, about the confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars.
‘You understand it probably better than a lot of people, with your career,’ Watters told Gibson, referring to Smith slapping the comedian after he made a joke about his wife last Sunday. ‘And I was wondering if, you know, you had been the one that jumped up out of his seat and slapped Chris Rock, if you would have been treated the same way. Mel?’
Gibson points his finger into the camera, grimaces and shakes his head, then waves his other hand. ‘Hello, Jesse? Um, thank you, that’s our time,’ cuts in a female voice from off-camera. Gibson continues to smile awkwardly, looking sideways off-camera and then into his lap. But Watters pressed further. ‘Have you ever thought about that?’
‘Um, I’m – thank you, Jesse,’ the female voice responds. ‘Uh, we – that is our time.’ Gibson keeps his gaze lowered until Watters thanks him for his time, to which Gibson looks back up and waves. ‘Well, Mel, thank you very much for joining Jesse Watters Primetime. We really appreciate it,’ Watters said.
The interview aired about an hour after Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, saying he will accept any further consequences from the Academy’s board for slapping Rock onstage at the Oscars ceremony. After Oscars presenter Rock cracked a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head at Sunday’s ceremony, saying that she could star in ‘GI Jane 2’,
Smith stormed the stage and slapped the comedian. In a statement, the best actor winner for ‘King Richard’ said his actions ‘were shocking, painful, and inexcusable. The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home.’
The Academy held an emergency board meeting of its governors on Wednesday to begin a formal review process of Smith’s conduct. It is possible that Gibson did not want to comment on the slap after fellow stars who criticized the incident, including Jim Carrey and Zoe Kravitz, faced backlash and were accused of hypocrisy as their own scandals were re-aired by Twitter.
Gibson experienced a tense onstage experience at 2016’s Golden Globes ceremony – although it didn’t come to blows – when co-host Ricky Gervais brought up the Braveheart actor’s 2006 DUI arrest and previous anti-Semitic comments. Gervais introduced the disgraced actor with the barb: ‘I like a drink as much as the next man, unless the next man, is Mel Gibson!’
Gibson has been at the center of several controversial issues involving driving under the influence and hurling racial and anti-Semitic slurs. His career in the aftermath of these incidents cooled down, with the actor taking small roles in films, including The Expendables 3 and Machete Kills. As Gervais signed off at the end of the show – referencing Gibson’s anti-Semitic comments – he said: ‘From myself and Mel Gibson, Shalom.’
