Posted on 07/31/2006 4:44:12 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
July 31, 2006 — Mel Gibson has reportedly sought rehab treatment, three days after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
"He is in a program of recovery at this time," Gibson's spokesman, Alan Neirob, told Star magazine.
The 50-year-old Oscar-winning director and actor was arrested Friday in Los Angeles. Law enforcement officers said they clocked him doing 87 mph in a 45 mph zone. A breath test indicated Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. In California a driver is legally intoxicated at 0.08 percent.
While it's not known where Gibson will be treated, Chris Printiss, the co-founder of celebrity treatment center Passages in Malibu, said he's aware of Gibson's plans.
"I understand he has gone to a treatment center," he told the magazine. "The center that I've heard he's checked himself into follows the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program. And I don't believe that will help him."
"He needs individual intense therapy by a team of people who know what they are looking for in causes in alcoholism."
Earlier on Monday, Malibu officials were defending the handling of Gibson's arrest amid allegations the department covered up anti-Semitic remarks Gibson reportedly made while he was in police custody.
The allegations of anti-Semitism stem from a leaked arrest report posted on the Web site TMZ.com quoting Gibson as saying, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asking a deputy, "Are you a Jew?"
"This case is going to go to the district attorney," Whitmore told reporters. "In that case file will be his statement, will be our report, will be everything pertinent to his blood-alcohol level. We have done our job. We hope we've done it with not only professionalism and intelligence, but held to the highest standard. of legal and moral imperative."
Whitmore said county prosecutors will decide the next step after a review of the case, but that the Sheriff's Department was "convinced because of our investigation and because of his own self-illuminating statement that he will be convicted of driving under the influence."
By the way, it may not make any difference to you but I did make it clear that I was NOT speaking about his drinking problem or his rehab.
Comments like yours lead me to confirm my suspicions that no matter what Mel says or does to redeem himself, it will NEVER be believed or accepted by some people.
I am in the minority thinking that he wasn't speaking of ALL the Jews...just the ones he was at war with in Hollywood and the ADL, who were out to destroy him and his movie.
Who do you think gave him a hard time when he was making The Passion of Christ? Do YOU consider the movie antisemitic?
Mel will never live this down. He will be persecuted the rest of his life. So sad.
sw
....but for the grace of God...go we.....good words to live by....
Just hire a chauffeur and learn to keep your mouth shut.
Saddam? or Sad & damned?
Bush and Cheney have both driven drunk. People screw up. It happens. Bush, to his credit, didn't behave arrogantly when he was stopped. But, then again, he was just the unknown son of a Senator (or maybe even congressman?) at the time. The standards were different in the seventies. Gibson should pay whatever consequences are standard for such an offense in CA. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't look at why he did what he did.
"I understand he has gone to a treatment center," he told the magazine. "The center that I've heard he's checked himself into follows the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program. And I don't believe that will help him."
"He needs individual intense therapy by a team of people who know what they are looking for in causes in alcoholism."
PING, this thread might be of interest to you! Freegards, RobFromGa
"Comments like yours lead me to confirm my suspicions that no matter what Mel says or does to redeem himself, it will NEVER be believed or accepted by some people." I agree. It is a shame. Fortunately, Gibson has the means to shelter himself, even if he never works again.
How can anyone make that statement.. how do they know for sure that a center that utilizes A.A. won't help.. unless of course, Money is behind that 'reasoning'.
Is that you John Jacob?
That darn Satan. Now he got Mel too.
They make a lot of money convincing celebrities and others with lots of excess cash that intensive therapy and pyscho-treatment, and "understanding root causes" is the key to effective treatment for addiction.
The only thing needed is a sincere desire to quit and then a support system that works for the individual to keep him/her from relapsing. Understanding the cause is NOT an important part of the solution IMHO.
I'm told by a source intimate with his situation tonight that Mel Gibson "was really on the verge of suicide because he felt he was helpless to alcohol and didn't know what to do about it." Sure, my reaction was: sounds like spin. But the source here is someone I've known closely for years. Make your own judgment -- here's the rest of what he told me about Gibson (mugshot left): "No one's really asking questions about his state of mind. That's why he was driving around 90 miles an hour. This was a death wish. If that cop hadn't stopped him, this guy was going to be wrapped around a pole. This is such a bigger issue than 'Will he work again?' This is about his not wanting to live anymore. I've seen what he's gone through and what he's going through. You have to understand the disease of alcoholism. He was back in it. There's no doubt in my mind he was trying to kill himself that night."
As for his anti-Semitic slurs during his DUI arrest, I'm told that Gibson doesn't remember saying them. "Why? He had alcoholic blackout syndrome. I don't know a lot about it. I've not had a lot of experience with it. He has some recollection of parts of the evenings. But he's not denying he said those things, and if anything he's owning up to it. But nobody could verify it. Not even he or his lawyers have seen the police report yet." The insider called Gibson's situation "tragic. It's not about what people are focusing on, understand that. 'This is Mel Gibson. He can do whatever he wants. He has all the money in world. He has a wonderful family. He has a wonderful wife.' They're not thinking about the real issue here: alcoholism. Nobody is talking about his alcoholism." Presently, I'm told Gibson is in a non-residential alcohol recovery program in the Malibu area.
UPDATE: *Publicist Alan Nierob informed the Los Angeles Times for its Tuesday edition that his client Mel Gibson "is fighting for his life" in his struggle with drinking.*
Agreed. I hope Mel rejects the advice of his "friend," finds AA and gets better.
Yup. Finding the 'root causes' of your drinking merely produces a well informed drunk. Most of us need to stop drinking and stay stopped. As the dust settles on that, and we adjust to life without alcohol, many of us find that we also have additional issues. AA can help with most. Psychiatry can help with others.
While you are actively drinking, the booze can cause symptoms as well as mask them. We are sick people getting well, not bad people getting good.
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