Image Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.comSeventy-six percent of Americans have no problem separating Mel Gibson the actor from Mel Gibson the scandal magnet, according to a 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll conducted earlier this month by randomly phoning 847 adults. Only 20 percent of participants said they were less likely to see a Mel Gibson movie as a result of the recent accusations by Oksana Grigorieva. Breaking the results down by gender: 80 percent of men and 72 percent of women said they were undeterred by the ongoing scandal. An online poll accompanying the results shows slightly different numbers: 62 percent of responders say the scandal has no effect on the likelihood of them seeing a Mel Gibson movie.
PopWatch’s own August poll, centered on the fourth Mad Max film, Fury Road, had less positive but still promising results for the actor: 33 percent of readers thought the movie was a good idea only if Gibson doesn’t have a cameo, but 24 percent said the film was a good idea only if he makes an appearance. Another 23 percent were supportive of the movie, whether or not Gibson was involved. Twenty percent thought the movie was a bad idea, period.
If you were a studio exec reading these numbers, would you gamble on Gibson?
More Mel Gibson:
Fourth ‘Mad Max’ film still a go: Ready to revisit one of Mel Gibson’s signature roles?
Seventh purported Mel Gibson tape leaks
Yes I would! This is great news! I knew it was only mindless idiots on the EW boards who said they’d never watch him again. I think he’s a good actor and director who has made some great and entertaining films, and I hope he continues to do so.
The only “mindless idiots” are the people who refuse to think about the hideous things this man has done and said. I don’t mean to be judgemental but I also don’t want to support someone who has done the things Gibson has done. It would be hard to watch this guy without remembering the things he said and becoming nauseated.
What has Mel done exactly? Some crazy lady said he hit her who also happens to be suing him. I have known many crazy broads in my life and I am not going to take the word of a crazy woman or her out of context tapes as facts.
I couldn’t care less what he said, it’s America dude. If you want thought police and censorship go to the UK or Holland or something.
If you had any idea the things men say when you are not around you would never date one again. Get over it.
I bet You support Roman Polanski? As well as actors such as Johnny Depp,Ewan McGregor, and Adrian Brody who work with him.
Ann, you don’t know for FACT what happened. All any of us knows is what some doctored tapes say … the rest of it is all unproven statements … given by a woman who changes her story from time to time, who did not report the supposed abuse to the authorities for several months, who appeared in public with Gibson after the supposed abuse, and who has a LOT to gain by causing everyone to believe her. I don’t mean just the money … I mean ATTENTION, the limelight … which is obviously what she is after. She took a shot at $15 million, decided she wanted more. In the ensuing months, it seems her team schooled her well on the battered woman syndrome, so well rehearsed that it became her reality. You need to not judge before having the facts.
It’s clear that Mel was over the top that night, deeply upset. Have you ever had someone push your buttons so hard you just lost it? It happens … the thing is, for Mel it happened and the whole world knows it.
even before all of this I didn’t really care for him as an actor
While he might still be a good actor, if you go see his movies, you’re supporting a racist jerk who punches his own wife while she’s holding a baby. If I was an executive who made all my decisions based on money, then maybe I’d take a gamble on Gibson. However, I can’t see myself just caring about money, and there’s no way I’d want to be anywhere near a person so abrasive.
^ Liberal crybaby who can’t bury his daddy issues. And how is Mel a racist? Saying the N word in conversation to your girlfriend over the phone doesn’t make you a racist. How about he was just ANGRY. People say things that cause a sting in their own bones when they get angry. Are those who use the lord’s name in vain when angry anti-Christian? Liberals who “don’t judge” should know that. Also, funny that a racist would immerse himself in Mexico for 14 months and recruit an all Mexican cast whom he lived with and hung out with for the duration of shooting the film Apocalypto, not to mention donating millions to their country in the process. Wake up, Dan. Find something else to cry about. Write a poem. You still might stay penniless and angry, but it might make you feel better.
Yes, he was angry, but somehow a lot of other people manage to avoid saying those things when they’re mad. His anger is no excuse for what he said, and blaming it entirely on anger is letting him off the hook. Furthermore, I never even mentioned people using the lord’s name in vain, and I don’t judge people who do. Also, you completely ignored the fact that he punched his wife while she was holding a baby, so you need to wake up if you think “he was just ANGRY” is an excuse for that.
I do write poems, but I’m not a crybaby. I’m calmly deciding to not spend money to support a wife-beater with anger issues. You can spend money on his films if you want, because you have that choice, but there’s no reason to attack me when I was just sharing my opinion. Although, considering you defend him, saying he was angry, I wonder if you have some anger issues as well, since you personally attacked me for having a different opinion. But that’s a conversation for another time.
Oh, and just because he gets along well with Mexicans, doesn’t mean he can’t be racist against other groups. The fact that he used the N word is bad enough, but the way he connected black people to rapists shows some level of prejudice that I can’t ignore. That’s my opinion, you don’t have to agree.
The crazy lady holding, or rather shaking the baby, was NOT Mel’s wife…yeah: he said, she said…it’s possible she hooked up with him because he is SOMEBODY, where as here in American she wasn’t so much until she did hook up with him, and she loved spending HIS money–according to him, then she leaks out tapes of him losing his cool, which is normal for almost everyone…why was she grinning in photo of broken tooth and there is no visible black eye in THAT photo, yet in one supposedly taken afterward she does have black eye…Mel’s mistake was falling for a crazy lady who played the Sex Kitten card with him to hook him…He is a man first, so he cheated on his WIFE, he is a man and SEX is all around: Date sites–sex kittens half undressed in ads, Kardashians–Kim showering with a baby (think viewers are watch to see her babysit or shower), Angelina trying to pull off a Jen Aniston by showing off her bony self in cut up-to-there dress at Salt premiere and shamelessly chasing after male co-stars–married or not–smart Johnny Depp wasn’t interested in that nasty thing….so what has Mel done that would make him less of a ticket seller…Sex and Abusive Relationships, isn’t that the American way….
I have no problem separating a performer’s personal and professional lives. I want my musicians to sing good music and my actors to play good characters. Mad Max is a legendary character who I would enjoy seeing on the screen again.
the mods here are nazis.
If you didn’t go see movies based on actors personal views or actions, you would probably never see another movie in your life.
What if you didn’t want to see his movies because you didn’t like the guy and–as an actor–his likeability is part of his job? Maybe if he plays a detestable villian, I’ll see one of his movies again.
If it’s a good movie, I would still see it.
Obviously no one is perfect. I wouldn’t have problem watching Christian Bale despite his publicized meltdown. I don’t have an issue with Tiger Woods either. But there is a line and Gibson crossed it when he abused and threatened to kill his wife. He belongs in a psychiatric hospital, not a movie set.
I’m with you, Ann.
not surprised people will still want to see him – he definitely has the anger and intensity needed to play certain characters!
And yet Chris Brown’s career is basically over.
Teenagers are more fickle.
His actions are in no way condonable, but many artists, actors, writers, etc. have been racists, anti-Semitics, misogynistic,you name it. Most of the authors read in high school were awful people. Just now we hear about celebs 24/7 and its news when they take out their trash or buy starbucks. I’m not saying it’s right, but we wouldn’t have any artists/celebs if we didn’t separate the person from their work. Except for Tom Hanks. He’d be the only person anyone would go see.
On this board, you can call someone a racist and the mods will allow it. If you call someone a l*beral, however, it will block your comment from being posted.
Welcome to the NEW United States of America.
LMAO best comment of the day.
I agree with Shamrock! I’m still viewing Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Tom Cruise movies. I won’t be dropping Mel just yet. (But I certainly will laugh at the many jokes about him!!)
Tom Cruise is a total d-bag, but what exactly did he do to get grouped together with Polanski and Woody?
He has some views people don’t agree with.
i still like him too. because he is a good actor, and i agree with shamrock. you’re limiting yourself to seeing good movies if you don’t want to see it based on someone’s views.
It’s not based on their views, but on their actions. Gibson abused his girlfriend in the worst kind of way. I really don’t want to put money in his pocket after that.
If I were a studio exec I wouldn’t trust this poll. I think it would really depend on the movie whether people would see it or not. Because these kind of things are subversive. I’m sure if polled people would say that they are willing to see Tom Cruise movies too. But his last movie wasn’t as successful as you’d expect. It all has to do with feelings when you see the promo. And your thoughts about the actor can factor into that.
What’s the big deal? I quit going to Mel Gibson’s movies years ago when he was merely obnoxious and homophobic. This was way before he made his S&M Jesus movie. Since then he’s been involved in drunken rants against Jews, sexist statements and behaviors, his wacky ‘traditionalist’ religion (which I guess he doesn’t follow very closely since he left his wife), the level of sadistic violence in his films, his unchecked alcoholism, etc., etc. So for all you late-comers who are just now considering avoiding Mel’s movies, welcome aboard the bandwagon.
I’m sorry that you think a realistic depiction of Jesus’ suffering is S&M.
How do you know it was realistic? Were you at the crucifixion?
I think there is also a large group of people who feel that Gibson has a legitiment mental illness and if he were to publicly state that he has some form of bipolar or other illness, people would be willing to forgive