It's long been a habit of Oscars hosts to gently (and sometimes not-so-gently) razz on the actors and actresses in the audience. The jokes are funny, and their reactions are priceless, but there's one particular attendee at tonight's Academy Awards that twitter is not interested in seeing: Mel Gibson.
Gibson, who is nominated for best director for Hacksaw Ridge, has been notoriously racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, and misogynistic his whole career, yet is continuously given a pass by his Hollywood peers. That includes tonight, when host Jimmy Kimmel made jokes about the actor, repeatedly prompting the camera to cut to Gibson's smiling face. This was the last thing people wanted to see, and they let the world know on Twitter.
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Imagine having to thank Mel Gibson for anything
— Jenna Weiss-Berman (@WBJenna) February 27, 2017
Some of Gibson's controversial (read: horrible) remarks include exclaiming "Fucking Jews! The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!" during a rant after being arrested for drunk driving in 2006.
It's interesting that the oscars keeps praising diversity & disparaging racism while regularly showing disgusting racist Mel Gibson #oscars
— Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) February 27, 2017
In 2006, a series of phone calls between the actor and his ex-girlfriend were released. "You look like a fucking bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of [racial expletive] it’ll be your fault. All right? Because you provoked it," he's heard yelling. "[You're] a fucking little girl with a fucking dysfunctional cunt... You need a fucking bat in the side of the head."
one thing that would be cool would be if no one ever mentioned mel gibson's name in polite society without mentioning he's a fucking racist
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) February 27, 2017
A year later, he plead no contest to domestic assault.
Mel Gibson's smiling face in the front rows is currently the #1 reminder of this institution's moral bankruptcy
— Anne Helen Petersen (@annehelen) February 27, 2017
Yet, somehow, not only is he still getting work, he's getting praise for the work. His past misdeeds, which are serious and unforgivable, instead become the playful butts of jokes. Then we have to watch him giggle at the Oscars about it? No thank you.
With the Mel Gibson accolades and the O.J. Simpson applause I am bracing myself for the Bill Cosby Lifetime Achievement Award. #Oscars
— Abbi Crutchfield (@curlycomedy) February 27, 2017
Luckily, Twitter is holding him accountable even if Hollywood won't. While it's not much, it's an important reminder that viewers will never let his history slide.
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