MEL GIBSON IS IN TROUBLE:

Crossing This Line Could Cost Him Deals
By Robert W. Welkos and John Horn, [Los Angeles] Times Staff Writers
July 31, 2006

Mel Gibson is rich enough to finance his own movies, including the 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ" and the upcoming release "Apocalypto." But although riches can buy a certain freedom from creative interference, no man is an island in the movie business.

Gibson, who apologized Saturday for making "despicable" remarks in what was described as an anti-Semitic tirade after a drunk driving arrest, in some ways now finds himself at the mercy of a Hollywood establishment that may or may not be inclined to extend forgiveness.

His most immediate issue is with Walt Disney Co., which is distributing "Apocalypto" and which also, through its ABC television network, has a development deal with his company to make a miniseries about the Holocaust.

Several prominent critics of "The Passion" have stepped forward to suggest that Gibson, who denied there was an anti-Semitic undercurrent in his movie about the last hours of Christ's life, has now shown his true colors.

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