Hollywood actor Mel Gibson has cleared up rumours he used a derogatory term to refer to a female police officer during his 2006 arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) - insisting he never muttered the offensive phrase.
The Braveheart star hit the headlines in July that year for making anti-Semitic remarks to Jewish cop James Mee after he was pulled over in Malibu, California for being intoxicated behind the wheel.
Gibson issued an apology for his comments immediately after the incident - but he is adamant he never used the insult "sugar t*ts" to Mee's female colleague during his outburst, even though it states so in the police report of the incident.
The star joked about his arrest during an interview with U.S. talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday (22Feb09), when the presenter teased him about "copyrighting" the insult.
Gibson replied, "I wish I could. The fact of the matter is, that did not come from my lips. It was falsely attributed to me. In fact it was a regular expression used by the arresting officer and I think it was he who coined that phrase to the press. But I wish I had said it."