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.”

Get your US Subscription!

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!

Source

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…)

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.

Source