Foster, Swayze defend Mel Gibson, blame alcohol for anti-Semitic slur

Dirty Dancing actor Patrick Swayze has jumped to the defense of Braveheart star Mel Gibson, blaming his alcohol addiction for the anti-Semitic remarks he made during his recent arrest for drunken driving.

Calling Gibson a 'wonderful human being', Swayze dismissed claims that the 50-year-old Passion of the Christ director hated Jews. “He is not anti-Semitic,” Swayze said in a television interview. However, the actor has never worked with Gibson and his contact with the actor-director is believed to be in 1988 when the two played hosts at the Academy Awards. Swayze claims otherwise. “We have been in each other's lives for a long time. I feel really bad for Mel. He's a good guy. People say stupid things when they happen to have a few, and especially if you don't drink anymore, or have limited your drinking for a long time,” the Ghost actor said.

Swayze added that the episode has been blown out of proportion because the person involved is a celebrity. “Everybody else gets to be allowed to have a stupid moment and nobody knows about it or cares the next day. So it makes it difficult when your life is under the microscope,” he said.
Asked if the episode will affect Gibson's Hollywood career, 53-year-old Swayze said, “No way, are you kidding me? A man that talented? You don't put somebody down like that…When you are a pit bull, and you love what you do and you are going to continue to grow, that talent will find its way out.”
Gibson opened Pandora's box on July 28, when he was arrested in Malibu for speeding. While being arrested, the actor allegedly blamed Jews for 'all the wars in the world' and also used profane language and threats with the Jewish officer who arrested him. The episode, though kept under wraps by the sheriff's office, broke open when a Web site reported a blow-by-blow account. Already suffering from allegations of anti-Semitism, Gibson confirmed them with this outburst.

Besides Swayze, Jodie Foster has also come out in defense of Gibson, who she worked with in Maverick. “Someone told me what had happened, and I said, 'That is just so not true'. Is he an anti-Semite? Absolutely not. But it's no secret that he has always fought a terrible battle with alcoholism. I just wish I had been there, that I had been able to say, 'Don't do it. Don't take that drink',” she said of Gibson.

Another Gibson supporter is Jewish producer Dean Devlin, who also blamed alcoholism for the slur. “I have been with Mel when he has fallen off, and he becomes a completely different person. It is pretty horrifying,” Devlin said, adding that Gibson was good friends with him and his wife even though they were Jews. “If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense. But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, because there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man,” he asserted.

Gibson has issued two public apologies over his slur. He is now scheduled to appear before the court over the DUI charges on September 28.

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