Mel Gibson received a new judge after his lawyer has requested to remove Judge Rafael Ongkeko from presiding over his divorce case against his wife, Robyn.

The case was reassigned to Judge Frederick Shaller “for all future court proceedings,” Usmagazine.com confirmed on Friday.

The star’s attorney, Robert Kaufman, filed legal papers on Thursday with the Superior Court of the State of California to boot Ongkeko from the case, Us confirms.

According to the documents, Kaufman said that Ongkeko is “prejudiced against Respondent and/or the Respondent’s attorney or the interest of Respondent so that affiant against cannot or believes that he and/or Respondent cannot have a fair and impartial trial or hearing before Judge Ongkeko.”

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Each side in the case is allowed to veto a judge once, within the first 10 days. Robyn’s lawyer, Laura Wasser, has yet to respond.

However, according to TMZ.com, it is more likely that the couple will not appear in an L.A. county courthouse and will instead get a private judge to hear them out away from all the publicity and attention.

Gibson and Robyn filed for divorce this week after 28 years of marriage and seven kids.

For more on Gibson’s shocking divorce — including what Robyn stands to get out of his $900 million fortune and how his controversial 2006 DUI arrest was the “final straw” for her — pick up the new issue of Us Weekly today!

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Days after Mel Gibson’s wife of 28 years, Robyn, filed for divorce, a 24-year-old Russian pop singer has come forth, claiming that she had a romantic relationship with the 53-year-old actor and has now fallen in love.

In a new interview in Britain’s The Sun, Oksana Pochepa also confirms that she is the mystery brunette photographed kissing Gibson on a Costa Rican beach in March.

“This is serious and I hope that our union will be real and strong and long-lasting,” she told the paper Tuesday.

Us Weekly reports that the two met last August when Pochepa was hired to compose a song for Gibson’s upcoming thriller Edge of Darkness.

Picture of the girl - PLUS MORE after the jump! (more…)

A source close to Mel and Robyn Gibson – who this week announced they were divorcing after 28 years of marriage – says that the atmosphere in the couple’s home was often a giveaway that things were not right between the couple.

“The tension between Mel and Robyn was obvious. Even during family dinners, they wouldn’t speak sometimes. Robyn would pretend that everything was perfect. No one would ever dare to ask her how she and Mel were doing,” the source tells PEOPLE.

The problems seemed to become evident three years ago. “During the summer of 2005 the whole family had a great time hanging out at the Gibson’s Malibu beach house, but at the beginning of [2006], Mel started having severe depression and went back to drinking massive amounts of alcohol. It was all very stressful for his wife,” says the source.

“At the same time, Mel was under tremendous pressure while filming [his epic Central American movie] Apocalypto in Mexico. The movie got delayed because of terrible rainstorms, and Mel and his crew stayed in the Mexican jungle for weeks during bad conditions. Mel’s drinking got out of control because it was very difficult for him to deal with the pressure of producing the movie.”

The source adds: “Mel’s family had no control over his drinking and were instead afraid of his bad, unpredictable temper.” At that time, “Mel rarely left the house [on location] for other things than business meetings.”

In papers filed this week, the date of the couple’s marital separation is listed as Aug. 26, 2006 – less than a month after Mel Gibson’s profanity-laced DUI arrest. (more…)

Mel Gibson may soon be writing one of the biggest checks of his life – to his wife.

With no indication that the estranged couple – who married 28 years ago – had a prenup, Robyn Gibson, 53, is legally entitled in their divorce to half of everything the actor-director-producer earned from their marriage in 1980 to the date of their legal separation: A fortune estimated at close to $1 billion.

“This could easily be one of the biggest divorce settlements in Hollywood history,” says Los Angeles family lawyer Lynn Soodik, who’s not involved with the case. “Any attorney would advise her to take half.”

A $500 million settlement would dwarf the current record holders of celebrity divorce:

Michael Jordan ponied up $168 million following his 2006 divorce with wife Juanita; Neil Diamond forked over $150 million after his 1994 split with Marcia Murphey; while Steven Spielberg shelled out $100 million following his 1989 divorce from Amy Irving.

Among Gibson’s estimated assets: More than $600 million grossed by The Passion of the Christ alone, $100-plus million in real estate investments worldwide (he bought an island in Fiji for $15 million in 2004), and $75 million for film and TV projects for which Gibson executive produced.

As for film residuals, Gibson, also 53, “would be accountable to pay half for the rest of his days,” Soodik says. “If he gets a residual check for Lethal Weapon or Braveheart, half of that check is hers.”

But don’t expect the ex-couple to enter a painful, protracted battle in the courts.

“This divorce will probably reach a settlement in a matter of months,” Soodik says. “It likely won’t be messy since there’s enough money to go around.”

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On Easter Sunday, Mel Gibson attended Mass at the Roman Catholic church he had built in 2005. His wife wasn’t with him. And after the service, he quietly spoke to some parishioners.

“Well,” he was overheard saying, “she’s filed for divorce.”

Last Thursday – the day before Good Friday – Robyn Gibson, 53, his wife of 28 years, signed divorce papers, seeking joint custody over their minor child, Thomas, 9, and spousal support.

That wasn’t the only surprising news. A source confirms to PEOPLE that Gibson and Robyn actually have been separated for three years.

The split was around the time that Gibson had reached a personal nadir when he was pulled for a DUI in Malibu. The movie star regained his sobriety after the notorious roadside incident in which he made anti-Semitic remarks that he later apologized for.

“They’ll do this amicably,” says the source. “There’s a lot of mutual respect and they’ve worked hard on their marriage and worked hard on their separation.”

Adds the source, “They’ll handle the divorce in the same respectful way.”

In fact, Gibson and his estranged wife attended church together with other family members on Palm Sunday, just four days before Robyn signed the divorce papers, PEOPLE has learned.

In addition to Thomas, the Gibsons have six older children: Milo, 19, Louis, 21, William, 24, twins Edward and Christian, 26, and daughter Hannah, 28.

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ET confirms Mel Gibson’s wife, Robyn, has filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage.

A statement from Mel’s rep on behalf of the actor tells ET, “Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so.”

A source tells ET the couple has been separated for nearly three years. Mel and Robyn have 7 children: Hannah, twins Edward and Christian, William, Louis, Milo and Tom. Tom is the only minor.

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PLOT OUTLINE: As homicide detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.

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