People News

Mel Gibson's latest drama another cautionary middle-aged crisis tale

By April MacIntyre Jun 26, 2010, 19:21 GMT

Big mistake: American Australian actor Mel Gibson (L) and his then girlfriend, Russian singer and actress Oksana Grigorieva. According to media reporst on 15 April 2010, US actor/director Mel Gibson has split up from his girlfriend, Russian singer Oksana Grigorieva after more than a year together and five months after the birth of their daughter Lucia. EPA/BALLESTEROS

Actor, producer and director Mel Gibson has had a rough stretch of middle-age.

In 2006 he was famously arrested on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California inebriated, and making anti-Jewish statements that one police officer allegedly leaked to TMZ.com that made headlines around the world. In 2008 it was revealed he was seeing a younger woman, severing his long term marriage to Robyn Gibson, the mother of his seven children.

Gibson is reportedly a traditionalist Catholic who built a Catholic Church in the Malibu Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains that separates Malibu from Calabasas and Agoura, which adheres to the pre-Vatican II changes, and celebrates Latin Mass.

His wife Robyn Moore filed for divorce from Gibson in 2009.

The couple released the a statement that was published in every major newspaper and news website in 2009: "Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so."

Moore, 53, met her husband in the 1970s after the American-born actor (Mel moved to Australia when he was 12) broke through and earned rave reviews for his gritty portrayal as 'Mad Max,' an apocalyptic cowboy of sorts.

Together they have seven children – Hannah, 28, twins Edward and Christian, 26, William, 24, Louis, 21, Milo, 19, and Thomas.

Musician and composer Oksana Grigorieva was the "other woman" who became pregnant with Mel's eight child, a girl. Their relationship ended this past May.

Now Oksana claims Mel is abusive and has slapped a restraining order on Gibson, who has also retaliated and filed restraining orders against his former lover.

Once again TMZ broke the Gibson story as their sources claim Mel, on January 6, 2010, was in a heated argument with Oksana who then allegedly took their baby and ran around the backyard, throwing herself on the ground and even shaking the baby, which can be lethal to an infant.

Mel's camp, according to TMZ, claim that Mel was trying to protect the child from Oksana's histrionics.
 
TMZ claims that a 50/50 deal was struck for visitation rights, and that while Oksana was working in Russia and Mel stayed at the home with his daughter Lucia and Oksana's mother as chaperone.

TMZ claims that Oksana "regretted agreeing to the mediated custody settlement and wanted to limit or even exclude Mel's contact with Lucia."

Oksana's lawyer then reportedly called Mel's camp informing him a restraining order against him was in place until another custody hearing was hammered out in July.

TMZ reported that Oksana "had secretly taped arguments she had with Mel. The judge ordered the tapes sealed and also ordered Oksana not to talk publicly about the recordings."