Friends claim the actor received proper help to get out

Jul 13, 2010 15:43 GMT  ·  By
“He’s coping as well as can be expected,” friend of Mel Gibson says of how the star is dealing with the scandal
   “He’s coping as well as can be expected,” friend of Mel Gibson says of how the star is dealing with the scandal

Only a few hours ago, a second tape of Mel Gibson launching a very aggressive and abusive tirade against his ex, Oksana Grigorieva, emerged online. Useless to say, it puts the actor in a very unfavorable light, especially since his ex also claims he left her with injuries for which she has concrete evidence, like medical records and photographs. Still, there are two sides of every story, a friend of his tells People magazine.

The other side to this scandal being, of course, that Mel also did his fair share of good deeds. The unnamed source does not deny that the star was having very serious issues at the time the recordings were made, namely in February this year. Still, Gibson soon realized he had a problem and he sought help for it – consequently, he’s still in therapy, learning how to deal with his anger and prevent occurrences like the one with Oksana from taking place ever again.

“He realized how unhealthy the relationship was and recognized that they were in a bad place and he was getting his buttons pushed,” the unnamed “friend” dishes for the publication. “[He] wanted to figure out how to extricate himself from this unhealthy relationship peacefully and calmly. Which is what he did,” the insider continues, referring to the apparently amicable split the two had in March. They even drafted an agreement settling all potentially explosive matters, like alimony, custody and other benefits that Oksana would get, such as houses and cars.

“Gibson’s lawyer Stephen Kolodny previously described the deal as ‘very generous support payments, joint custody and eventually 50/50 custody of Lucia,’ while the Russian singer claimed that payments have since dried up. […] A source close to the case claims the tapes were recorded in February on the heels of a heated exchange in January. Both sides agree they argued in January but differ on what exactly transpired. Grigorieva claims Gibson punched her in the face ‘more than once,’ breaking a tooth and knocking out a veneer. Another Gibson source says the actor only ‘tried to stop [Oskana] from shaking their baby like a ragdoll’ during the altercation,” People further writes.

Unfortunately, the matter is now in authorities’ hands who, as we also informed you earlier today, have asked for the tapes made by Oksana to be handed over, as they constitute evidence of spousal abuse in the case that is being built against Gibson. As for how the actor is coping with all this playing out in the media, the friend says he’s doing well under the circumstances: he’s still in therapy.

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