Website says Gibson rant audio not last word

Video: Tirade tape could dim Gibson’s star power

Open in new window

2. Transcript of: Tirade tape could dim Gibson’s star power

   Advertise | AdChoices

   ANN CURRY, co-host: Back now at 8:08 with Mel Gibson , who is now facing domestic violence allegations as well as fallout from an alleged profanity-laced rant on tape. We've got NBC 's George Lewis reporting.

   GEORGE LEWIS reporting: Gibson and his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva , the mother of his youngest child, seemed to be madly in love -- but not anymore. The celebrity gossip site radaronline.com released an audio recording it says is Gibson lashing out at Grigorieva in a tirade laced with obscenities and a racial slur, the N word.

   Mr. MEL GIBSON: "You go out in public and it's

   a......embarrassment to me. You look like a......bitch on heat. And if you get raped by a pack of......it'll be your fault."

   LEWIS: The authenticity of the audio hasn't been independently verified and Gibson hasn't commented so far. Reportedly Grigorieva told the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Gibson hit her and knocked out a tooth. And there are also reports Gibson has denied the allegation.

   Mr. STEVE CRON (Defense Attorney): What happens now is anybody's guess. There's potentially a criminal investigation of him for making threats against his girlfriend, as well as domestic violence .

   LEWIS: The paparazzi caught up with Grigorieva over the weekend.

   Ms. OKSANA GRIGORIEVA: It'll come out in the right time.

   LEWIS: The William Morris Agency has let it be known it is no longer representing Gibson . So could Gibson 's run of strange behavior mark the end of his run in Hollywood ?

   Mr. KEN BAKER (Chief News Correspondent, E! Network): Mel Gibson 's either the victim of a lot of bad luck or he's just a very self-destructive man who can't get it right.

   LEWIS: Four years ago when he was arrested for drunk driving, a police report said he made sexist and anti- Semitic remarks for which he later apologized.

   LEWIS: Gibson , at the height of his career, winning the Oscar for directing the movie, " Braveheart ," in which he also starred.

   LEWIS: His latest film, " Edge of Darkness ," was a box office bomb , raking in only $80 million, about what it cost to make. Now if he's charged with assault against his girlfriend, the sheriff could take away his freedom. For TODAY, George Lewis , NBC News, Los Angeles .

   CURRY: So where does Mel Gibson go from here? We've got Wendy Murphy , she's a former prosecutor, and Bonnie Fuller is the president and editor-in-chief of hollywoodlife.com. Good morning to both of you.

   Ms. WENDY MURPHY (Former Prosecutor): Good morning.

   Ms. BONNIE FULLER (President and Editor-in-Chief, Hollywoodlife.com): Good morning.

   CURRY: It's interesting that these allegations and this audiotape which allegedly occurred in January, that this event occurred in January, is now coming out after the couple is already trying to sort of battle over custody of their -- of their child. I mean, what do you make of that?

   Ms. MURPHY: Well, you know, that's not good for her, believe it or not , even though it's horrible. A judge trying to figure out who should get custody is not going to like the fact that this is pressure, you know, in a sense an exploitation of the situation to bring public pressure to bear on a very private divorce -- or custody situation. So it's terrible, but if it was leaked and she's behind the leak, that's not going to help her in court.

   CURRY: And as we just heard from George , it's not been independently verified that these are actually authentically Mel Gibson 's, you know, voice -- Mel Gibson 's voice is on tape. So how will that -- will they be admissible in court? I mean, is this something that's still debated?

   Ms. MURPHY: Yes. Actually there's a -- even though sometimes secret recordings are against the law, there's a special law in California in a domestic violence situation, you can covertly record anything and it can and is admissible.

   CURRY: Hm.

   Ms. MURPHY: And so that's bad news for Mel Gibson . There's also a special presumption in California that any domestic violence in the five years prior to a debate and a dispute about custody, the presumption is the abuser gets no custody, the primary or shared. And this will be used against him in that way.

   CURRY: Meantime, already he's already hurt in Hollywood because William Morris , his agent, has dropped him, Bonnie , so.

   Ms. FULLER: That's right . Well, in the court -- in the court of both public opinion and in the court of Hollywood big decision-making opinion, he has lost already. I mean, he was already being shunned after his 2006 outburst in which he made anti- Semitic remarks. And so the fact that he's now caught on tape -- and I think anybody who knows Mel Gibson 's voice does believe, they do believe it's him. So anybody who's caught on tape, both he's slurring women, he slurring African-Americans , he is -- he's also slurring Latinos and he has previously slurred Jews . They are -- he is not welcome. People are not going to want to work with him.

   CURRY: But do you think that his career's over? I mean, he's a guy who has been lauded in Hollywood for decades now.

   Ms. FULLER: That's right .

   CURRY: And he also is a man who has had an alcohol problem.

   Ms. FULLER: Yes.

   CURRY: So is s there forgiveness in Hollywood , or do you think Hollywood , that's it for Mel Gibson ?

   Ms. FULLER: I am not going to say it's it for Mel Gibson because, yes, he's -- he is well-known to be an alcohol abuser and has gone through rehab. However, he is so wealthy that he can continue to finance his own movies. He financed " Passion of the Christ ," which made over $600 million, and "Apocalypto," which was another huge hit. And so when somebody is that capable of making money and can afford to do it on their own, he can still be successful despite being shunned.

   CURRY: And so how do you see this playing out, Wendy ? I mean, obviously we're looking at, you know, a court case ?

   Ms. MURPHY: Well, look, The most important thing is did a crime occur, and who should raise their child?

   CURRY: Hm.

   Ms. MURPHY: And people are calling it an assault. If he knocked her teeth out, which is the allegation, that's actually mayhem, and that's a very serious felony under California law . You know, we have lots of research that shows abusive men are also harmful to children, even if they don't hurt the children. I think it's -- he's going to be hard-pressed to win in a court of law . If he is prosecuted, he's going to be hard-pressed to win that case. I don't know about his career. But I'll tell you this, I don't know what group of people would go because he seems to hate everybody. I don't want to watch any of his movies.

   CURRY: Well, remember, these are still all allegations in terms at least of this particular case.

   Ms. FULLER: Well, she's -- and, you know, she has also made allegations against -- or he has made allegations against her and said that she was shaking the baby. So I believe -- we've looked into this and we've heard that the Child and Family Services is looking into the pair of them.

   CURRY: So we actually have -- you know, we -- this is not over, and we don't know the full details of all of it. So at any rate, thank you so much , Bonnie ...

   Show transcript