Todd Phillips - Todd Phillips: 'Film Crew Persuaded Me To Cut Mel Gibson Cameo'

The director invited the embattled star to shoot a hilarious cameo in the movie, but too many crew members were upset about the idea, following the release of Gibson's rage-filled phone rant aimed at his ex-lover Oksana Grigorieva and her allegations he attacked her.

Movie star Zach Galifianakis was singled out as the cast member who was opposed to Gibson's involvement in the comedy sequel, but Phillips tells Entertainment Weekly magazine it was others who made him change his mind and replace the movie star with Liam Neeson.

He explains, "A lot of people voiced opinions. Yes, I'm the director and I could have said f**k you to everybody and this is what we're doing, but I also have to put the movie ahead of my own ego and say, 'What's best for the movie when we still have 10 weeks ahead of us?'

"The truth is, it's not worth causing a rift in this family... over a two-minute cameo."