What to know
- Viral video shows Gibson making hand gestures behind an ASL interpreter at Toronto Fan Expo.
- Online reactions range from outrage to defence, with some calling the gestures ableist and others dismissing them as harmless.
- Gibson has since apologized, saying there was “no intended maliciousness.”
Mel Gibson is under fire after a viral video showed him appearing to mock an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter onstage at Toronto’s Fan Expo.
On Saturday, Aug. 29, actor Mel Gibson was a guest speaker and panellist at the Toronto Fan Expo.
When walking on stage, Gibson appeared to make allegedly mocking hand gestures behind an ASL interpreter.
People immediately ran to the comments.
“He’s a terrible human,” one TikTok user commented.
“He’s an idiot all the time,” another said.
“Of course he’s an ableist,” one user stated.
But some came to his defence, saying it was just a joke.
“He is just being funny and not trying to hurt anybody. He is an old silly guy,” one user wrote.
“I’m deaf, and I find this funny; y’all need to chill,” another said.
After drawing major public criticism, Gibson issued a statement to Variety, apologizing for the incident.
“Sometimes, when you get pushed out on a stage in a spotlight, your mind is all over the place,” he reportedly said. “Sometimes, spontaneous thoughtless idiocy is displayed.”
He added that there was “no intended maliciousness” and shared his apologies.
