Mel Gibson disputes Winona Ryder’s account of homophobic and anti-semitic comments

Ryder alleges Gibson made the comments at a party they both attended

Mel Gibson on 16 November 2017 in London, England. (John Phillips/Getty Images)

Mel Gibson has disputed Winona Ryder’s allegations that he made homophobic and anti-semitic statements at a party they both attended.

The actor’s representative Alan Nierob disputed Ryder’s account in a statement to The Independent.

“This is 100 per cent untrue,” Mr Nierob said.

“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.”

Ryder recounted the alleged remarks as such in a recent interview with The Sunday Times: “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?’”

Ryder told the newspaper that Gibson “tried” to apologise later on.

The actor previously made similar claims in a 2010 interview with GQ, telling the magazine Gibson “made a really horrible gay joke” and “said something about ‘oven dodgers’” at a Hollywood party.

Gibson hurled anti-semitic statements during a 2006 arrest on suspicion of drunk driving, according to a sheriff’s report shared at the time by TMZ. The actor apologised for the “despicable” remarks in a statement to The New York Times.

The Independent has approached Ryder’s team for comment.