Mel Gibson Rant: Can The Oscar-winner Survive It?

Mel Gibson yells profanities in a audio-recording released by the 'MACcabees' screenwriter Joe Eszterhas to The Wrap.com. Eszterhas had threatened to leak the audio clip after Gibson had denied being abusive and anti-Semitic during his time working on the doomed movie.

Though the recording doesn't appear to contain any anti-Semitic remarks, a man alleged to be Gibson is heard screaming "Why don't I have a first draft of "The MACcabees? What the f*ck have you been doing?", unaware that he is being recorded by Joe's son. He also goes off on a rant about a woman - believed to be Oksana Grigorieva - claiming she takes advantage of him. It's familiar territory for Gibson, who was arrested for DUI in 2006 and subsequently went on an anti-Semitic tirade against the arresting officer, according to Fox News. In 2010, recordings emerged that allegedly featured Gibson verbally abusing Grigorieva. It's becoming ever-harder to imagine the Oscar-winning returning to the heady heights between 1995 and 2000, in which he starred in the likes of Braveheart, Ransom, What Women Want, The Patriot and Chicken Run. A recent turn in Jodie Foster's indie-drama 'The Beaver' restored some credibility, though the actor appears to be finding it difficult to find quality roles. PR expert Glenn Selig sees no way back for the actor, once deemed one of the biggest in the world, telling Fox, "Much of Hollywood has already shunned Mel Gibson and that's why it was so shocking to many when 'The MACcabees' selected him for the project. The fact that Gibson's rant involves the film's screenwriter will almost certainly lead to a blacklisting".

Industry analyst Scott Huver highlighted Gibson's considerable wealth as a means of releasing his own movies, but he warned that finding distributors and theaters willing to screen them would be the problem.