Mel Gibson reacts to claims he used antisemitic slur against Winona Ryder

Mel Gibson has denied allegations he used an antisemitic slur against actress Winona Ryder.

The Braveheart actor, 64, said it was “100% untrue” that he asked Ryder if she was an “oven dodger” at a party about 25 years ago.

The actress, who is Jewish, made the allegation against him – not for the first time – in The Sunday Times.

She also said he had made homophobic remarks to her friend.

In the recent interview, she said: “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get Aids?’

“And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?'”

The Stranger Things star, 48, said Gibson had tried to apologise to her at a later date.

Gibson’s representative said: “This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now.

“Also, she lied about him trying to apologise to her back then. He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”

Responding to the denial, Ryder insisted the altercation remains a “painful and vivid memory” and named her friend in the alleged incident as the late makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin.

She said: “I believe in redemption and forgiveness and hope that Mr Gibson has found a healthy way to deal with his demons, but I am not one of them.

“Around 1996, my friend Kevyn Aucoin and I were on the receiving end of his hateful words. It is a painful and vivid memory for me. Only by accepting responsibility for our behaviour in this life, can we make amends and truly respect each other, and I wish him well on this lifelong journey.”

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Ryder first accused Gibson in an interview with GQ magazine in 2010, suggesting the actor was referencing the gas chambers used by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

In 2006, Gibson was recorded carrying out an antisemitic rant after a drink-driving arrest.

He did not work in the film industry for 10 years after that but in 2016 directed Hacksaw Ridge about the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honour in the Second World War.

(c) Sky News 2020: Mel Gibson reacts to claims he used antisemitic slur against Winona Ryder