Winona Ryder Doubles Down on Mel Gibson Claims

She reiterates allegations of homophobic, anti-Semitic comments by the actor
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2020 12:09 AM CDT
Winona Ryder Doubles Down on Mel Gibson Claims
Winona Ryder arrives at the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Echoing claims she first made in 2010, Winona Ryder is once again accusing Mel Gibson of anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks. In an interview with the Times on Sunday, Ryder recalled, without specifying a date, "We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?'" She says he later tried to apologize. A rep for Gibson—who has been accused of anti-Semitism and using racial slurs more than once—says the story is "100% untrue."

"She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now," Gibson's rep says. "Also, she lied about him trying to apologize to her back then. He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him." Ryder, for her part, gave a statement to USA Today in which she said, "I believe in redemption and forgiveness and hope that Mr. Gibson has found a healthy way to deal with his demons, but I am not one of them. Around 1996, my friend Kevyn Aucoin and I were on the receiving end of his hateful words. It is a painful and vivid memory for me. Only by accepting responsibility for our behavior in this life, can we make amends and truly respect each other, and I wish him well on this lifelong journey." (More Mel Gibson stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X