Eszterhas to Gibson: “You Hate Jews”

It’s hard to remember when Mel Gibson was a universally beloved box-office star, isn’t it?

Thanks to TheWrap, the world can now behold a nine-page letter that screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (“Sliver,” “Basic Instinct”) wrote to Gibson, the star of the now-dissolved Warner Bros. “Jewish heroism” project, “The Maccabees.” The hirsute scribe, whose soft-core talents became irrelevant after the birth of the Internet, doesn’t hold back on his hatred for Gibson.

Specifically, Eszterhas says the Gibson never intended to turn his script into a movie. Sharon Waxman of TheWrap offers a fascinating summation on the unpleasantness: Eszterhas believes Gibson announced the project “in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-Semitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career.” The writer then offers this bombshell: “I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason you won’t make ‘The Maccabees’ is the ugliest possible one. You hate Jews.”

Oof.

“Eszterhas’ letter reveals a more complex dynamic,” Waxman writes, “a disturbing picture of Gibson as a man yet again out of control, inflicting frequent rages on those around him, in the grip of an anti-Semitic obsession, and possibly dangerous to those around him.”

You can read the entire letter here. Me, I’m going to take solace by remembering my favorite scenes from “Payback.