Winona Ryder claims Gibson is homophobe
Winona Ryder Mel had a spectacular fall from grace this year, following his split from Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva. The pair have 13-month-old daughter Lucia together, and although their break-up initially seemed amicable relations quickly soured.
Oksana alleged Mel was violent towards her, punching her in the face and breaking her teeth. A number of recordings supposedly made during the pair were fighting were also made public, in which a man purported to be Mel used racist and offensive language. It’s not the first time the star – who has been battled alcoholism - has encountered such allegations. In 2006 he was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), and a leaked report showed he made anti-Semitic remarks to a police officer.
Winona has claimed she has known of Mel’s dark side for years, after he unleashed a foulmouthed tirade when she was at a party with him.
“15 years ago, I was at one of those big Hollywood parties. And he was really drunk,” she explained to the January issue of GQ. “I was with my friend, who's gay. [Gibson] made a really horrible gay joke. And somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers' but I didn't get it. I'd never heard that before. It was just this weird, weird moment. I was like, 'He's anti-Semitic and he's homophobic.' No one believed me!”
Mel’s representative has not commented on the claims.
Winona gave the interview to publicise her new film Black Swan, in which she plays ballerina Beth who loses her place in the company to a rising star. The role appealed to the 39-year-old, as it’s a topic most actresses her age consider.
“Being replaced by the young thing. I know that definitely happens in Hollywood... I'm at that age I've been warned my whole life about,” she explained.