Mel Gibson is truly "sorry" for his behaviour over the last decade.
Mel Gibson
The 60-year-old star's public image reached rock bottom when he hit the headlines for calling a female police officer "sugar t**s", was branded a racist for anti-Semitic comments he made during the same drunken rant and then had domestic abuse claims made against him by his ex-partner Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of his six-year-old daughter Lucia.
Mel insists he has battled to rid himself of his inner demons and beat his alcoholism and he knows he "screwed up" big time.
In an interview with Deadline, he said: "I've done a lot of work on myself these last 10 years. I've deliberately kept a low profile. I didn't want to just do the celebrity rehab thing for two weeks, declare myself cured and then screw up again. I think the best way somebody can show they're sorry is to fix themselves and that's what I've been doing and I'm just happy to be here. He who tries, gets. If you try, you get somewhere."
Mel's infamous anti-Semitic rant and "sugar t**s" rant took place on July 28, 2006, when he was arrested by Jewish deputy James Mee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for driving under the influence after he was caught speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol in Malibu, California.
The arrest report revealed the 'Hacksaw Ridge' filmmaker exploded into his tirade after being informed by the arresting officer he would not be allowed to dive home where he went on to drunkenly say: "F***ing Jews ... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?"
Mel was also recorded by Russian singer/songwriter Oksana using racial slurs against black people and Mexicans in viscous arguments with her over the phone.
Asked what he learned from his mistakes, Mel said: "I've learned a lot of things, like phone etiquette ... how to use my 'indoor voice' ... and if you're going to drink, don't talk. Have a designated talker. Nobody has ever said to a drunk person, 'That's a brilliant thought! You need to share that with the world!'
Tagged in Mel Gibson