The Atlantic

How Hollywood Redeemed Mel Gibson

The director and actor has been hired for a major new studio project—remaking <em>The Wild Bunch</em>—despite the many scandals in his past.
Source: Al Powers / Invision / AP

In 2016, Mel Gibson hit the publicity trail for his new movie, Hacksaw Ridge, a biographical war drama that was his first directorial effort in 10 years. The film was received warmly at the Venice Film Festival and got a November release date, indicating serious Oscar potential. But Gibson, one of the biggest actors in the 1990s, had been tainted by scandal. There was his 2006 , where he was recorded making anti-Semitic remarks. Then there was the abusive, virulently racist he made to his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva in 2010, in which he admitted to and said she had “deserved it.”

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