As part of a profile with The Sunday Times, actress Winona Ryder has spoken about her apparent encounter with actor/filmmaker Mel Gibson and says in her conversation with him at a party, he said things that were homophobic and anti-Semitic.
Ryder tells the paper: “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?'”
Gibson is no stranger to controversy due to both his ultra-religious/conservative views and remarks, including 2006’s infamous drunken rant when he was pulled over for a DUI, and further comments that came out in 2010. Ryder has told similar stories in the past, including a 2010 GQ profile, and also says Gibson later ‘tried’ to apologize to her about his comments.
Gibson has quickly hit back at Ryder’s claims today, a representative telling Variety that the story is a fabrication: “This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now… 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 is sticking by her story and offered more details to the trade saying: “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.”
