"Cancel Mel Gibson" - Actor Joshua Malina pens op-ed to Hollywood
"I’m a character actor. I tend to take the jobs that come my way. But-and this hurts to write-you couldn’t pay me enough to work with Mel Gibson." @JoshMalina on Hollywood, cancel culture, and Gibson's raging anti-Semitism.https://t.co/o4JzZDfSLm
- The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) December 6, 2021
Reacting to news that "Lethal Weapon 5" has been greenlit, actor Joshua Malina wrote an op-ed in The Atlantic asking why "well-known Jew-hater" Mel Gibson is being allowed back into Hollywood.
Citing Gibson's history of racism, domestic abuse, misogyny and extensively documented anti-semitism against the rise of anti-Jewish violence (including the Tree of Life massacre and murder at the Chabad of Poway synagogue), Malina questions Warner Bros. decision to allow Gibson to direct the "Lethal Weapon" sequel: "If Gibson is welcomed back to direct the latest installment of this beloved franchise, it may be time to stop publishing think pieces about the power of “cancel culture.” Because if he can continue to find big bucks and approbation in Hollywood, cancel culture simply does not exist."
And it's not just Warner Bros. that's softened on Mel Gibson; he's been cast in a John Wick origin series which will be produced by/for Starz and Lionsgate Television. To this, Malina responds: "How did this guy become such a hot ticket again? Is it just that memories of his hate speech have faded, while Hollywood’s recollection of his box-office pull remains?" [OP's emphasis]
Malina observes that Hollywood's re-embracing of Gibson boils down to "'Jews don't count'... that 'polite' society treats anti-Semitism as a semi-acceptable form of prejudice", but notes that Gibson is such a malignant presence that he would be satisfied if any of Gibson's triple threats of racism, anti-semitism and misogyny is what keeps him blacklisted for good.
Malina ends the op-ed by saying this is more likely to lead to his own blacklisting, but hopes that "higher-profile executives, producers and actors would also take a stand. Then I could believe in this cancel culture I keep reading so much about. And I could also believe that Jews do, in fact, count."
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