{"id":875628,"date":"2026-09-01T01:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875628\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T01:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T01:10:11","slug":"mel-gibson-apologises-for-idiocy-after-seemingly-mocking-asl-interpreter-at-fan-expo-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/875628\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Gibson apologises for \u2018idiocy\u2019 after seemingly mocking ASL interpreter at Fan Expo Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/entertainment\/celebrity\/elon-musk-could-partner-up-with-mel-gibson-for-a-new-version-of-the-odyssey-20260723-p60i3q.html\" class=\"sc-ZStEl fijHCo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mel Gibson<\/a> has apologised after he appeared to mock an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at fan event over the weekend. <\/p>\n<p>The two-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/topic\/oscars-60a\" class=\"sc-ZStEl fijHCo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oscar<\/a> winner, 70, issued an apology for his \u201cthoughtless idiocy\u201d after a video circulating online showed the actor seemingly mimicking the interpreter as he took the stage. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3444ad2afa520cfc48eda981ecf56a4a7189da9e3f407909a3ed10c2012ebee5.jpeg\"  width=\"100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"_0b53bae146db0b62 _7475dd3391ee1518\" style=\"--text-color:var(--color-text-secondary)\">Mel Gibson appeared to be mimicking the interpreter before going on stage.\u00a0YouTube\/@joelchico5<\/p>\n<p>The Braveheart actor issued a statement on Tuesday, after facing backlash online from those who witnessed his actions. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes when you get pushed out on a stage in a spotlight your mind is all over the place, and sometimes spontaneous thoughtless idiocy is displayed,\u201d the statement, as reported by multiple US outlets, began.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u00a0was no intended maliciousness attached, and I certainly apologise to anyone who was upset by it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A fan video circulating online showed the actor being welcomed on stage as celebrity guest at Fan Expo Canada over the weekend. <\/p>\n<p>As Gibson walked on stage, he seemingly and momentarily mimicked the interpreter\u2019s signs before pointing to the crowd. <\/p>\n<p>The Mad Max actor came under fire for the move, as one fan online criticised Gibson for \u201cmaking fun\u201d of an ASL interpreter \u201cfor no reason at all\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>Others labelled the star \u201cdespicable\u201d, while another dubbed Gibson an \u201celite troll\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mel Gibson arrives at the 89th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon 2017\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/492d15d332998640e6a03f6c1da988e2a6b6082c.jpeg\"  width=\"100%\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"_0b53bae146db0b62 _7475dd3391ee1518\" style=\"--text-color:var(--color-text-secondary)\">The actor has issued as statement after fans blasted Gibson online.\u00a0Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n<p>Gibson joins an A-list line-up of stars who have appeared on the panel for Fan Expo, including Mark Hamill, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nine.com.au\/entertainment\/celebrity\/john-cena-second-hair-transplant-details-20260728-p60j3h.html\" class=\"sc-ZStEl fijHCo\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Cena<\/a> and Elijah Wood.  <\/p>\n<p>The actor is returning to screens in two upcoming blockbuster thrillers, The Canyon and Coyote. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mel Gibson has apologised after he appeared to mock an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter at fan event&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":875629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-875628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}