Mel Gibson

Actor Mel Gibson is at the centre of a race row after racist comments he made during an angry row with his wife was caught on tape by American website Radar Online.

In a row with his wife actor Mel Gibson blurted racist comments unaware that his comments were being taped. The 54 year-old actor disapproved of the way his wife was dressed and said, “You look like a f***ing pig in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of n******, it will be your fault.” (MailOnline: 2 July)

Gibson’s racist comments have already sparked responses by anti-racist black leaders. Civil rights activist and Baptist minister Reverend Jackson said, “His penchants for anti-Semitic and racist diatribes reveal the actor’s fundamental character flaw. He needs help.”

A spokesperson for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People said,  “An apology is insufficient given his history of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism. No amount of words will change his image as an out of date and out of control racist.”

Gibson is not the only celebrity to have been caught making racist remarks. In November 2002 X Factor judge Danni Minogue was interviewed by GQ Magazine in a London Restaurant and revealed her racist views.

In the interview she said that she could understand why Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French far-right white nationalist leader had “struck a chord with people” (LoveMusicHateRacism:November:2002)

She then went on to complain about Asians living in Australia, saying that even the street signs were in Asian, as well as condemning Gypsies and asylum seekers.

Such was the significance of Danni’s statements that the British National Party even used her comments on their website as an endorsement of their views.

In February 2009 Disney Teen star and teenage idol Miley Cyrus offended Asians by making a ‘slant eye’ gesture in a photograph taken with friends. Sixteen year-old Cyrus, best known for her role as Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel show posed with friends using slant eyed gestures.

The pictures were posted on the internet. The OCA, a national organisation in America dedicated to advancing the welfare of Asian Pacific Americans called on the star to apologise. They commented that the gesture has been used historically to mock and degrade people of Asian descent.

We will never know just how many celebrities really hold racist views because that type of media reporting would be too dangerous for race relations. The media often likes to portray racists as poor, uneducated misfits when the reality is quite different.

For further research:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1291255/Mel-Gibsons-racist-violent-outburst-lover-Osanka-Grigorieva-caught-tape.html?ITO=1490

http://lovemusichateracism.com/2002/11/dannii-minogue-outed-as-a-racist-bigot/

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5125ZK20090203

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One thought on “Actor Mel Gibson’s racist comments caught on tape”
  1. It will be challenging for mel gibson to recover from this. It could actually be the start to the end of his huge career. He should have been much more careful about what he was saying.

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