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Gibson: 'I am not an anti-Semite'

Actor in 'ongoing recovery' after arrest on suspicion of DUI

Mel Gibson with an unnamed patron at Malibu's Moonshadows restaurant on the night of his arrest.

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Actor-director Mel Gibson apologized Tuesday for making anti-Semitic remarks during his drunken driving arrest last week, saying the comments were "blurted out in a moment of insanity."

Gibson's second apology in the case came as inTouch Weekly published pictures it said were from the night of the arrest. According to The Associated Press, witnesses said Gibson had been drinking at a Malibu beachfront restaurant called Moonshadows before his car was stopped.

"There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark," Gibson said in a statement issued by his publicist. "I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge." (Watch a new apology from Gibson -- 1:30)

In the statement, Gibson said, "Please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot." (Read the full statement.)

Gibson, the director of 1995's Oscar-winning "Braveheart" and 2004's controversial "The Passion of the Christ," was picked up by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies early Friday with a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 percent, the department said. California's legal limit is 0.08.

During his arrest, Gibson asked the arresting deputy whether he was a Jew and said, "F---ing Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," according to a sheriff's report obtained by the entertainment Web site TMZ.com. (Watch reaction to Gibson's alleged "f------ Jews" remark -- 3:00)

Gibson faced accusations of anti-Semitism during the publicity storm that surrounded "The Passion of the Christ," which the Anti-Defamation League said portrayed Jews as "bloodthirsty" and "evil." But in Tuesday's statement, he said, "Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

"I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena," he said. "As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words."

Hollywood speculated about the fallout from Gibson's reported anti-Semitic and sexist remarks from Friday's arrest. (Watch whether Gibson's apology can save his reputation -- 4:33)

Gibson has a Mayan-language film called "Apocalypto" due later this year, and his film company, Icon Productions, had been producing a mini-series set during the Holocaust for ABC. The television network announced Tuesday that it was dumping that project.

"Given that it's been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon," the network announced. But ABC's corporate parent, Disney, said "Apocalypto" remains in post-production and is scheduled for release in December.

Gibson denied his apology was meant to limit any career damage.

"This is not about a film, nor is it about artistic license," he said. "This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It's about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad."

Members of the Jewish community greeted Gibson's most recent statement favorably.

"We are glad that Mel Gibson has finally owned up to the fact that he made anti-Semitic remarks, and his apology sounds sincere. We welcome his efforts to repair the damage he has caused," Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told The Associated Press. "Once he completes his rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, we will be ready and willing to help him with his second rehabilitation to combat this disease of prejudice."

"I welcome his words. And I hope and pray that they are sincere and heartfelt," but Gibson needs to show "tangible actions" of repentance, Rabbi Mark S. Diamond of the 280-member Board of Rabbis of Southern California told the AP.

"I don't want to minimize for a moment the hurt and anger, the anguish, his words have created in our community," he said.

Reviewing the case

Meanwhile, an independent review board has found the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department handled Gibson's drunken driving arrest "in accord with its policies and practices," but it is still looking into whether a deputies' report on the incident was sanitized, the board's chief lawyer said Tuesday.

Michael Gennaco, the top lawyer for the Office of Independent Review, said he has "no reason to doubt" that all the details of Gibson's arrest would be presented to the district attorney's office for possible charges. But he said investigators were still trying to determine whether the actor's "inflammatory" comments were placed in a separate, supplemental document "to shield some of that report not from the DA, but from the public realm."

Sheriff's deputies originally reported Gibson was arrested "without incident." The department later explained that the term meant no force was used. Asked about that account, Gennaco said, "I'm not sure I would have used those words."

The Sheriff's Department has previously denied that Gibson -- who has participated in a department charity that provides aid to the children of slain sheriff's deputies -- received any special treatment. Though Gibson was not handcuffed, as DUI suspects frequently are, "There is some discretion given to the deputies on that," Gennaco said.

Gibson was released after posting $5,000 bond, and charges have not yet been filed. His publicist announced Monday that he is going into an "ongoing recovery program" to battle alcoholism -- and Tuesday, he said he wants to meet with Jewish leaders to help him "discern the appropriate path for healing."

"I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery," the statement continued.

"Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed."

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