#Winona Ryder Calls Out Mel Gibson Over Anti-Semitic and Homophobic Comments

Winona Ryder has accused Mel Gibson of making anti-gay and anti-semitic comments. The Stranger Things and The Plot Against America star says that Gibson made the comments at a party some years back. This is far from the first time that Gibson has come under fire for such comments, as the actor and director also unleashed a now-infamous anti-semitic rant during a 2006 DUI arrest.

The comments from Winona Ryder were made during a recent interview. Ryder was asked if she has experienced any antisemitism in the industry. The actress, who identifies as Jewish but does not consider herself “religious,” says that she and some friends were at a party with Mel Gibson. During a conversation, Gibson made comments that were insensitive to the LGBTQ and Jewish communities. Here is what Ryder had to say about it.

“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?'”

This is not the first time the comments in question have come up. Winona Ryder told a similar version of the story in an interview with GQ back in 2010. Though Ryder identifies as Jewish she says, “It’s a hard thing for me to talk about because I had family who died in the camps.” Speaking further, Ryder shed some light on other experiences she’s had working in the industry over the years.

“There are times when people have said, ‘Wait, you’re Jewish? But you’re so pretty!’ There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago, it was a period piece, and the studio head, who was Jewish, said I looked ‘too Jewish’ to be in a blue-blooded family.”

Mel Gibson, star of the Lethal Weapon franchise and director of movies such as Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, was once at or near the top of Hollywood’s A-list. Gibson was arrested and charged with a DUI in 2006. The police report revealed the star’s anti-semitic remarks, with Gibson saying, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!” Gibson later referred to it as an “unfortunate incident” and said the comments were recorded illegally, while also calling it “not fair.”

In the years that followed the arrest, Mel Gibson spent several years largely not working. More recently, he has had something of a return to the spotlight, directing the Oscar-nominated Hacksaw Ridge and starring in movies such as Daddy’s Home 2, Blood Father and Dragged Across Concrete. Gibson has also been working on getting Passion of the Christ 2 made. Winona Ryder says Gibson “tried” to apologize for the incident at a later date. This news comes to us via The Sunday Times.