“This is despicable”: Mel Gibson slammed online for mocking ASL interpreter behind her back at Toronto fan expo in viral video
“This is despicable”: Mel Gibson slammed online for mocking ASL interpreter behind her back at Toronto fan expo in viral video
Pallavi K Mon, August 31, 2026 at 8:26 AM UTC
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Mel Gibson - FanExpo Chicago 2026 ©Getty
Hollywood actor-filmmaker Mel Gibson is facing backlash for mocking an ASL interpreter behind her back at FanExpo Canada 2026. The now-viral clip shows the woman making hand gestures at the Toronto event and Gibson, 70, appearing from backstage and mimicking her, standing right behind.
Netizens are now criticizing the Lethal Weapon star on X. For instance, user @CalvinsHuman wrote:
“This is despicable!”
Nadine Johnson
@CalvinsHumanLINK
This is despicable!
Many joined the conversation and shared similar reactions.
“Always disappointing to see my language mocked. We work hard to get our language recognized and be taken seriously,” an ASL community member wrote.
“Why hasn‘t he been blacklisted from everywhere yet? Genuinely don‘t get it,” a netizen asked.
“It's ridiculous that Mel Gibson is able to show up to concerts and events in Toronto and people are welcoming him with open arms. It's nauseating,” a fellow user added.
“I don’t even know why he was invited to Fan Expo when he has a history of this behaviour,” an individual asked.
A few fans defended Mel Gibson.
“He was actually signing a really funny joke, but you're so blinded by hatred that you didn't listen to him,” a person wrote.
“He wasn’t mocking deaf people. It was a dumb joke. Not worth getting offended over,” another one commented.
Mel Gibson has yet to address the controversy.
Exploring Mel Gibson’s history of controversies
Mel Gibson reportedly made an anti-gay comment in a December 1991 interview with Spanish outlet El País,following which GLAAD accused him of homophobia. In the wake of his 1995 movie Braveheart, Gibson faced a fresh wave of allegations over the depiction of a gay character. Two years later, he met with a GLAAD panel for an in-person discussion.
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Over the years, he defended his comments and even declined to apologize. In a 1999 interview, he mentioned he shouldn’t have made the remarks to El País but was slightly drunk, as a result of which he blurted it out and the quote later came back to “bite” him in the back.
Over the decades, Mel Gibson continued to face similar accusations, including from Jewish actress Winona Ryder, who claimed that he called her an “over-dodger” at a 1990s party, which is an antisemitic term associated with the Holocaust. At the same party, Gibson allegedly asked Ryder’s gay friend whether he was going to get an STD by speaking with him. Mel has denied the allegation on more than one occasion and called the Stranger Things actress a "liar."
The Hacksaw Ridge director made headlines in 2006 after his DUI arrest report in Malibu, California, was obtained by TMZ, which revealed him unleashing an anti-Jewish rant at his arresting officer. Gibson apologized twice through his publicist as well as in a TV interview with Diane Sawyer.
He described his behavior as “despicable” and that the remarks were “blurted out in a moment of insanity.” He also called for Jewish leaders to guide him toward an “appropriate path for healing.” He later joined an alcohol rehab facility. His agent, Ari Emanuel, also dropped him. In 2016, Mel told Variety he was “sober” and found it “annoying” when people dragged out a decade-old incident.
Besides antisemitism and homophobia allegations, Mel Gibson has also been accused of being racist and abusive.
For instance, audio tapes of him using the N-word while speaking with his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva were leaked in 2010. Mel Gibson was also heard threatening to burn down Grigorieva’s house.
According to CNN, the woman, who is a mother of one of his nine children, claimed the actor was physically abusive. In the wake of domestic violence claims, Mel was given a restraining order and asked to stay away from Oksana and their daughter. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge.
Mel Gibson’s close friends from the industry, including Whoopi Goldberg, Jodie Foster, and Robert Downey Jr, have rallied in his favor and urged everyone to give him a second chance amid his fall from grace at the 2011 American Cinematheque Award.
Later, his 2017 Oscar-winning film, Hacksaw Ridge, helped him fix his lost reputation.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
