Mel Gibson refutes Winona Ryder's allegations of him being homophobic, anti-semitic as '100 percent untrue'

Mel Gibson hit back at explosive claims by Winona Ryder that the Oscar-winning actor and director made anti-Semitic and bigoted remarks and accusing the Stranger Things star of lying about their interactions.

Mel Gibson (left) and Winona Ryder. Imags from Twitter

“This is 100% untrue,” a representative for Gibson said in a statement to Variety. “She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now.”

Ryder accused Gibson of making anti-Semitic and anti-gay comments in a recent interview with the Sunday Times. She has told similar stories in the past, including in a 2010 GQ profile.

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According to Variety, Ryder was asked by a reporter if she had experienced anti-semitism in the industry and she responded with several examples.

The 48-year-old star explained, "I have... in interesting ways. There are times when people have said, 'Wait, you're Jewish? But you're so pretty!' There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago, it was a period piece, and the studio head, who was Jewish, said I looked 'too Jewish' to be in a blue-blooded family."

Ryder also recounted a disturbing run-in with Mel Gibson at a party in 1995.

She said, "We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends. And Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we're all talking and he said to my friend, who's gay, 'Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?' And then something came up about Jews, and he said, 'You're not an oven dodger, are you?'"

Ryder said that Gibson "tried" to apologise later on.

“She lied about him trying to apologise to her back then,” Gibson's representative said. ‘He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”

Interestingly, Gibson had a notable anti-semitic outburst, when a police report revealed that he said "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!" during a July 2006 DUI arrest.

The Apocalypto director told Variety in 2016 that, "It was an unfortunate incident. I was loaded and angry and arrested. I was recorded illegally by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for that crime. And then it was made public by him for profit, and by members of - we'll call it the press. So, not fair. I guess as who I am, I'm not allowed to have a nervous breakdown, ever."

Ryder said in the interview that he is "not religious, but I do identify. It's a hard thing for me to talk about because I had family who died in the camps, so I've always been fascinated with that time."

(With inputs from agencies)