Mel Gibson has finally broken his silence over the shocking audio tapes that leaked online last year, saying “The whole experience has been most unfortunate.”

Mel gave the extensive interview to deadlinehollywood.com.

On whether or not he’s a racist, or sexist:

I’ve never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality — period. I don’t blame some people for thinking that though, from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes, which have been edited.  You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship. It’s one terribly, awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day and doesn’t represent what I truly believe or how I’ve treated people my entire life.

Does he worry audiences won’t want to watch him on the big screen again?

I don’t care if I don’t act anymore.  I could easily not act again. It’s not a problem. I’m going to do something now because I want to do it and because it’s fun. I’ve already pulled another job and it’s going to be fun. I don’t know if it’s going to get off the ground, but I’m going to go work for [Best Picture Oscar winner Braveheart's screenwriter] Randy Wallace again. He’s got this script and he’s had it for years. He wrote some book and he’s adapted it to a script. And it’s almost like Alexander Dumas — like that swashbuckler kind of stuff.

Where were you when the tapes broke?

I don’t remember a bunch. What came first? The chicken or the egg. The Beaver was completed. We’d finished shooting, I think.

On his constant legal battle with ex, Oksana Grigorieva.

Everybody has a dog in the fight but me, oddly enough. I haven’t got a lawsuit out on anyone because I think it’s extremely… You have to think about your children. That’s all there is to it. I can’t really discuss this. There are a lot of delicate and sensitive issues and I don’t want to be the cause of grief to any of my children or to friends or family or associates on either side because it’s a matter that should be dealt with. It’s important to me that it’s dealt with correctly and it’s important that I maintain my integrity through this for the sake of those I love. So speaking about it is just not on and apart from anything else, I’m prohibited by court order. Now, the system is flawed as we know, but you’ve got to ride with that. I think that it will all eventually come out in the wash and I’m depending on that. I have a lot of faith in that. Even though any organization, anybody, will always be flawed or not perfect in many ways. But at the end of the day, they’re trying to work in a fashion that achieves some kind of justice. I’m going to hook my hitch onto that and follow that through. Perhaps some time I will go on and comment in a more full way. But even if the judge hadn’t put some kind of court order on me, I think I’d stay mum on a lot of these things just out of consideration for Lucia and my other children and my grandchildren and friends and family. It doesn’t do any good. Maybe, when this is all over and hopefully, justice is achieved. Maybe I could say something. But I’d never want to leave anything lying around that would… a lot of damage has been done. I don’t want to add to it.

I was allowed to end the case and still maintain my innocence. It’s called a West plea and it’s not something that prosecutors normally allow. But in my case, the prosecutors and the judge agreed that it was the right thing to do. I could have continued to fight this for years and it probably would have come out fine. But I ended it for my children and my family. This was going to be such a circus. You don’t drag other people in your life through this sewer needlessly, so I’ll take the hit and move on.

SO MUCH MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

About being asked to star in ‘Hangover II’ and then being asked to back out after the cast demanded it.

You have to let that go. I sat here and talked to [director] Todd [Phillips] about it. I like Todd. How could you not like Todd? He’s smart and he’s gifted and so are the other people in the film. It’s okay. You just have to let that go.

Have the audio tapes ruined his chances at making his own movie again?

I don’t know. I don’t know. Guys like Robbie [CEO Rob Friedman] over at Summit [Entertainment] have been really nice. It didn’t seem to bug those guys at all. They were like, ‘This is crap. We’re going out with this movie.’ The next movie I’m in is How I Spent My Summer Vacation and it will have a distributor because we’re in the business of entertainment.

On coming out of retirement to star in a movie with Jodie Foster.

It was something different and it was also Jodie. I’d give her a pedicure every day of the week if I could. We met on Maverick many years ago. I realized that one has a perception — everyone gets preconceptions. She totally surprised me. I knew she was bright, so that didn’t surprise me. She was really bright. And she was pragmatic and extremely sensitive and a good heart, a real good heart. So how could you not become friends? We became fast friends and we maintained that over the years. We’ve both had our different little journeys. It’s untraditional. But there are a lot of things we have in common. I can empathize with her. From four years of age, she’s been out there. And it’s not that for me, but almost, because I was a baby when I started. I was probably more developmentally arrested at the age of 21 than she was at four. [Laughs] You couldn’t get two people who are more diametrically opposed on everything that they think about religion and politics than what we do. But there is a core of goodness there that’s undeniable and I just love her.

Are you uncomfortable with your fame?

Yes. When I was younger and it first started to happen, there’s some kind of novelty to it in your twenties. You quickly realize before your twenties are over, you realize that it’s not anything it appears to be in your imagination or any other thing, and that it has a lot of downside to it. Now you deal with that. It’s like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, but you can’t. The toothpaste is out there. You realize change has happened. You face it, you cope with it and you move on. And it’s not easy. Change is always proceeded by a little pain. [Shrugs shoulders with smile.] Some people can change and they don’t have to go through so many painful things. But I think that I’m of a personality [laughs at himself] that I’m a little stubborn, so it’s tough for me.

TONS MORE on deadline.com

While Mel Gibson’s new movie ‘The Beaver’ was premiering at SXSW in Austin, Texas, Mel was back in El Segundo being booked by police on criminal battery charges.

Gibson and his lawyer arrived at the El Segundo Police Department around 9:30 p.m., and Gibson was fingerprinted and posed for a mugshot (above), Sergeant Dean Howard tells The Hollywood Reporter.

“He was here for a very short time,” Howard says of the less-than-30-minute visit. “He was very pleasant. This is just an old case that the judge wanted him to get fingerprinted for. It isn’t anything new. We did it real quick and he was out.”

Gibson was officially charged last Friday with misdemeanor battery for allegedly assaulting his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva (with whom he has a 1-year-old daughter, Lucia) in January 2010. He is expected to strike a plea deal that will keep him out of jail. TMZ.com reports that Judge Stephanie Sautner gave Gibson one week from his sentencing to get his mugshot and fingerprints taken.

Gibson was brought to the LAX-area police station instead of his local Malibu one because El Segundo is the L.A. County booking system, Howard said.

Gibson has a supporter in Beaver director, Jodie Foster, who tells the new issue of THR, “I knew the minute I met him, I would love him for the rest of my life.”

I wonder what affect all this will have on his new movie. I know I’m not dying to see it…

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With news of ex-partner Mel Gibson’s plea bargain in their domestic abuse court battle, Oksana Grigorieva celebrates by spending time with daughter Lucia Gibson. Yesterday (March 10), the two step out and make their way to a local park in Sherman Oaks, Calif., to play and spend quality time together.

In case you didn’t know, it was also announced this week that Grigorieva will not be charged or pursued for extortion as the DA office feels there is not enough evidence to support an investigation.

Images via Fame

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