Mel Gibson has addressed his ongoing feud with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas on TV for the first time, revealing he's still upset his former friend recorded him losing his temper during a vacation at the Braveheart star's holiday home in Costa Rica.
Eszterhas embarrassed the actor/director earlier this month (Apr12) when he released audio of the foul-mouthed Aussie star ranting during a dinner he hosted for the screenwriter and his family.
He claimed his teenage son had become so afraid of Gibson he recorded his screaming fit on his iPhone.
The release of the audio came just a week after Eszterhas appeared on U.S. TV news shows reprimanding Gibson for his behaviour in front of his son. Prior to that, the screenwriter fired off a nine-page letter criticising Gibson, accusing him of being an anti-Semite for heated remarks he had made.
The actor responded by telling media outlets that the screenwriter was just bitter because Warner Bros. bosses had turned down his script for a movie Gibson is hoping to make about historical Jewish hero Judah MACcabee.
Appearing on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Friday (27Apr12) for his first TV chat since the scandal broke, Gibson joked, "Maybe you don't know this about me, but I've got a little bit of a temper."
He got serious when Leno quizzed him about the audio, adding, "Has it really come to the place where you can't blow off steam in your own home, even if you're justified?
"If he (Eszterhas) put half as much time and effort and creativity and imagination into a screenplay, which he was supposed to write, as he did into that letter, we wouldn't be having this conversation... It's kind of like you build a house, you hire a guy to put a roof on it, he comes over and eats lunch and talks about the roof, and then you get rained on all night. Wouldn't you be kind of peeved?"
Gibson reminded Leno that he had already written an open letter to Eszterhas apologising for losing his temper and saying some things he regretted, adding, "I guess it wasn't good enough. Sorry... I shall pray for him."