14 DAY TRIAL // That actor and director Mel Gibson has rage issues must no longer be a secret, since many of the voice messages he left his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva leaked online. Now, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is determined to prove the same.
The conflict started in March this year, after Eszterhas and Gibson disagreed over a joint project “The Maccabees,” which eventually fell apart.
The screenwriter released an open letter to explain how Mel was still having very severe rage issues, which threatened to put both himself and those around him at risk because, at that time, he was barely rational.
He held him responsible for the failure of “The Maccabees” project, while also making very serious allegations.
As he said in that letter, his 15-year-old son Nick recorded one of Mel's outbursts – and he's now releasing it to the press to show that he hasn't been lying about the star's impossible temper.
You can listen to it here, but *be warned that it contains very offensive language.
“Why don’t I have a first draft of 'The Maccabees'? What the [expletive] have you been doing?” Gibson is heard screaming.
As Eszterhas writes in the letter, while these words were addressed to him, he wasn't there: he was with his son and wife in the dining room, while Gibson was raging outside, running around the house.
“I am earning money for a filthy little [expletive] who takes advantage of me!” he is also heard yelling, referring to his ex, Oksana, the mother of his child.
During the outburst, Gibson also crashed a totem pole onto a billiard table and threw his cell phone against the wall, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs and mumbling unintelligibly.
Eszterhas insists he's not looking to shame Gibson just for the heck of it – but neither is he happy that the star tried to paint him into a liar in the press with previous comments, blaming him for what happened with their joint project.
Instead, he's releasing the tape to show to the world just what a deeply disturbed individual Gibson is, and how badly he needs help.
“The bottom line is it shows to me he badly needs help. My interest isn’t to damage him with this tape but to prevent damage being done to others, starting with Jews, including Oksana and now, I’m sure, me,” Eszterhas tells The Wrap, to which he released the damning recording.
“I strongly believe that unless he seeks and receives some kind of psychiatric help, someone is going to get hurt,” the screenwriter adds.