Actor Mel Gibson was dropped from Chicken Run‘s sequel after he was accused of making an anti-Semitic remark to Winona Ryder in 1995 at a party. Gibson voiced Rocky in the first Chicken Run movie which was released in 2000. Due to the allegations, Gibson is all set to be replaced by Zachary Levi. The sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, will release later this year.
Ryder, who is Jewish, recalled that Gibson made an anti-Semitic remark back in 1995, however, Gibson’s legal team claimed that Ryder’s allegations are false. Gibson has been accused of being anti-Semitic on multiple occasions.
Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic remark
Actress Winona Ryder once recalled the time actor Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic remark directed towards her at a party back in 1995. The actress said, “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar.” When Gibson discovered that Ryder is Jewish, he allegedly asked her, “You’re not an oven dodger, are you?”
“Oven dodger” is a hateful derogatory term for Jewish people, referring to the Holocaust.
Mel Gibson’s representative said the allegations were false
As a result, Gibson was dropped from Chicken Run‘s sequel in 2020. Shortly after that, his legal representative called the allegations “100% untrue,” further adding that the representative approached Ryder in 2010 when the allegations first surfaced, however, Ryder “refused to address them with him.”
Ryder also revealed that Gibson asked her friend, who is gay, “Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?” at the same party. The actress further added that Gibson later apologized for his offensive behavior.
Mel Gibson has been involved in multiple controversies
Gibson’s 2004 movie, The Passion of the Christ, was criticized as several people claimed that it was anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League claimed the film “could likely falsify history and fuel the animus of those who hate Jews.”
In 2006, Gibson was caught driving under the influence of alcohol in California. After getting caught, he reportedly told police officers, “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Gibson apologized later claiming that his words were “blurted out in a moment of insanity.” Gibson’s father, Hutton Red Gibson, once said that the Holocaust was “fiction.”
The consequences of these allegations were severe, Gibson was immediately dropped from Chicken Run‘s sequel, despite so many fans hoping to see Gibson reprise his character after more than 20 years.
Source: The Sun
