Mel Gibson Disputes Winona Ryder’s Claim That He Made Anti-Semitic & Anti-Gay Comments

Actors Mel Gibson and Winona Ryder are at odds over Ryder’s claims that Gibson previously made anti-Semitic comments to her.

Ryder first made claims about Gibson’s anti-Semitic comments in a 2010 interview with GQ. She mentioned the incident again in this past weekend’s Sunday Times. Ryder described the interaction and said, “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’” 

Ryder continued explaining the interaction. “And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you’”

A representative of Gibson responded to Ryder’s recent comments in the Sunday Times saying they were “100% untrue” and added that Gibson “did reach out to [Ryder], many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”

Ryder responded to the comments from Gibson’s representative and included the interaction occurred “around 1996.”

“I believe in redemption and forgiveness and hope that Mr. Gibson has found a healthy way to deal with his demons, but I am not one of them,” Ryder said. “Only by accepting responsibility for our behavior in this life can we make amends and truly respect each other, and I wish him well on this life-long journey.”

Gibson was also accused by actor Joe Eszterhas in 2012 of using the offensive term that alludes to the mass murder of Jews in Nazi death camps which occurred during World War II. Gibson also made widely documented anti-Semitic comments when he was arrested for drunk-driving in 2006.

Gibson also claimed Eszterhas’s allegations were “utter fabrications.”