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Mel Gibson: Past Mistakes Are “Behind Me,” “I’ve Worked On Myself”

Mel Gibson attends an event on January 11, 2014
Mel Gibson spoke about his past scandals.

Gary Oldman may have hurt Mel Gibson more than he helped him. Gibson, 58, found himself back in the headlines for his string of infamous past incidents last month, when Oldman attempted to defend him in an interview with Playboy

Oldman's quotes about the controversial star dug up his past controversies, including an anti-Semitic rant he went on in 2006. He famously got into a heated argument with members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department and repeatedly hurled the phrase "f–king Jews" and made other anti-Semitic remarks. Gibson is now being forced to comment on the incident again eight years later. 

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"It's behind me," he said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter this week. "It's an 8-year-old story. It keeps coming up like a rerun."

"I've dealt with it and I've dealt with it responsibly and I've worked on myself for anything I am culpable for," Gibson continued. "All the necessary mea culpas have been made copious times, so for this question to keep coming up, it's kind of like… I'm sorry they feel that way, but I've done what I need to do." 

Related: PHOTOS: Mel and Oksana

While he addressed his 2006 trouble, Gibson did not touch upon any of his other scandals, such as the 2011 leaked audio tapes in which he admitted to hitting ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, spewed racial epithets, and more. 

In Oldman's June interview, the acclaimed actor bashed political correctness and defended both Gibson and similarly hot-tempered Alec Baldwin. "I just think political correctness is crap," he told the publication. "I think it’s like, take a f–king joke. Get over it… I don’t know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we’ve all said those things." 

Related: PHOTOS: Mel's many meltdowns

"We’re all f–king hypocrites," Oldman, 56, continued. "That’s what I think about it. The policeman who arrested him has never used the word n—-r or that f–king Jew? I’m being brutally honest here. It’s the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. Or maybe I should strike that and say 'the N word' and 'the F word,' though there are two F words now."

While Gibson has come to his own defense as his past resurfaces, Baldwin has yet to comment. Fans of the 30 Rock star should not wait with bated breath for words from Baldwin, however, as he told New York Magazine in an extended interview in February 2014, "This is the last time I’m going to talk about my personal life in an American publication ever again."

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