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Mel Gibson Can't Help Himself

As you know if you've read my postings, I worked in Hollywood for a few years and still have many friends there. Some work in the always dynamic film industry, and others work normal jobs. A screenwriter friend sent me this response to the post Mel, Movies and the Maya. It's rather revealing. Check it out:

I just finished 'Mel, Movies, and the Maya' and have a story for you that you may find interesting.

Four days ago, Tuesday the 9th, Lia was working at Cafe del Rey in Marina del Rey. I don't know if you've ever been there, (it's in the Marina next to the Ritz-Carlton, has valet parking and a $48.00 New York steak on the menu) but it's nice.

Here's the scene - It's about 8:00PM and Lia waits tables on a fairly busy evening. A single woman enjoys a cocktail at a corner booth. Lia notices the woman has been joined by a man, and she approaches the table to offer him a drink. The man turns to Lia - it's Mel Gibson. Lia makes a joke "I guess you won't be having a drink with us." Mr. Gibson laughs and orders a soda water. He and his dinner companion (not his wife, I might add) stay for a couple hours. Mel drinks only soda water. By the end of dinner Lia and Mel are chatting about movies. She informs him she loved Apocalyto (I know she really did love it because we talked about it before this) and asks if he's seen Pan's Labrynth? "No I haven't," Mel replies, "thanks for the recommendation."

All is well. Mel's female companion goes to the bathroom. Mel pays the bill and heads for the exit...

Mel walks out the front door and flashbulbs go off everywhere. He storms back into the restaurant screaming "Who dropped the fucking dime?! Who the fuck dropped the fucking dime!!" He demands to see the manager and screams at her in the lobby area, dropping f-bombs loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. "I'm never coming back to this fucking place. You people called the fucking paparazzi fuck fuck fuckety fuck" (I'm paraphrasing). He wants Lia to bring him his bill so he can tear it up. The manager tells him that they have celebrities in all the time and they respect their privacy and assures him that no one employed by the restaurant called the tabloids. The manager insists he must pay his bill and leave. Mel yells a bit more and then storms out to his car which the valets have pulled out front. He cusses out the valets and peels out of the parking lot.

Lia is visibly shaken as she returns to her section. A customer consoles her: "What an asshole," he comments. Lia checks Mel's bill. He has left her just over a ten percent tip. That was before he went beserk, mind you. What an asshole, indeed.

Thus ends my friend's account. You're saying it's hearsay of course, and you're right, but anyone who has lived in Hollywood will sense the truth of the story. Hollywood people know that, even under the microscope of magazine shows, tabloids and paparazzi, ninety percent of what celebs do goes unnoticed and unreported, save to employees of the various projects on which they work. I've heard verifiably incredible things about everyone from Eddie Murphy to Arnold Schwarzeneggar, and had personal interactions with a pretty long list of celebs myself. The nights of ecstasy and coke, pranks and general fucking around, are too numerous to list. It's what makes Hollywood go, and is why it's so much fun.

Anyway, the above story is just some amusing Gibson FYI. It isn't the sort of thing I usually post, but as an account of Mel's behavior a.a. (after arrest), it's a fascinating postscript.

posted by Egan Ehlers @ 7:05 PM