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Mel Gibson Invited To Present Award At Golden Globes: Is He Truly Forgiven?

By Christopher Brown
Published on: 18:06 PST, Jan 5, 2016

Mel Gibson has been invited to appear as a presenter at The Golden Globes on Sunday. If accepted, this will be the first time in a while that Gibson has garnered such attention, MSNBC reports.

The media industry has been wary of Gibson ever since his DUI arrest in 2006. During the incident, the Lethal Weapon actor went on an anti-Semitic rant about Jews after belligerently asking the officer if he was Jewish.

Actress Winona Ryder has also spoken out on Gibson’s antisemitism in a past interview with GQ. Ryder claimed that Gibson made comments about “oven-dodgers” as a derogatory insult after learning that she was Jewish.

The reaction of his return to a high profile stage has been mostly comments showing discontent on social media.

https://twitter.com/TBlackford3/status/684142389573754880

Even the host of the Golden Globes himself, Ricky Gervais, posted his reaction on social media.

On top of Mel’s DUI arrest, he also caught heat for his virulent racist comments and abusive threats made towards his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva back in 2010. He was exposed when the audio infamous phone call leaked. The calls revealed that he was physically abusing her as well.

Mel has stayed out of the spotlight since then, doing a only a few low profile movies, and made even fewer appearances in the media to avoid anymore controversy. Yet he was still hounded about his past during interviews.

“That was almost four years ago, dude. I’ve moved on, I guess you haven’t,” Gibson said, giving a snarky response to WGN TV reporter Dean Richards during an interview, MSNBC reports. “I’ve done all the necessary mea culpas. Let’s move on,” he added.

Mel Gibson has attempted to save face and restore his image over the years by vehemently apologizing to the Jewish community and entering rehab for alcohol abuse. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge against Grigorieva in 2011 as a part of a settlement deal.

But does this mean that Hollywood has publicly finally forgiven Mel Gibson? Him being invited to present an award would suggest so, but not necessarily. Acting colleague and Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee vouched for the return of Gibson to the leading position on the silver screen.

But it should be noted that the Golden Globe’s host, British actor/comedian, Ricky Gervais is notorious for roasting celebs, claiming that “no one is off limits.”

During an interview with E!, Gervais responded,

They’re all easy. Because they’re all so nervous. They’re all so worried about being spoken about. And I’m the same way. When I’m there, and the camera points to you, you’re thinking. What are they going to say about me?

If that’s true, then perhaps Mel Gibson being there could simply be an easy punching bag for Gervais? Or is he simply there because the Mad Max: Fury Road reboot is up for an award? The prominence of the film, which made Mel famous in the original, makes it hard to ignore the blacklisted actor.

Naturally this would inadvertently put him back in the spotlight. The only way to find out is by tuning in to the Golden Globes which airs Sunday, Jan. 10 at 8 pm EST on NBC.

Do you think that America is ready for Mel Gibson to be in the Spotlight again? Has he paid his dues?

[Photo via Shutterstock]

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