Veteran actor and director Mel Gibson was taken to task after a moment of him seemingly mocking someone on stage at a convention went viral.
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The 70-year-old The Passion of the Christ director was shown in now-viral fan footage apparently imitating an American Sign Language interpreter while taking the stage at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto on Aug. 29.
Mel Gibson walked onstage at Fan Expo behind an ASL interpreter and flashed hand gestures at the crowd.
— Crime Talk with Scott Reisch (@CrimeTalkNet) August 31, 2026
Some people say he was mocking her. Others say it was a joke and they’re overreacting.
No comment from Gibson.
What do you think it was? pic.twitter.com/1KnD74BeCd
The comments under an X post showing off the footage were met with mixed reactions from onlookers.
“Yeah, Mel was stupid — do better. We got no hate — won’t cancel him out. Still a good actor + director,” one X denizen wrote about the brief boner. “That was him goofing around, as if he knew sign language. Today’s society is so soft,” another fan on X added.
“I don’t believe he was making fun of her. Some people just love to drag good people down,” a third fan wrote.
However, not everyone was so forgiving of the Lethal Weapon actor.
“Its a joke to make fun of Deaf people?” one X user asked.
Meanwhile, Gibson himself addressed the controversy in a statement shared by Variety.
“Sometimes when you get pushed out on a stage in a spotlight your mind is all over the place, and sometimes spontaneous thoughtless idiocy is displayed,” Gibson explained in the statement. “There was no intended maliciousness attached, and I certainly apologize to anyone who was upset by it.”
Of course, Gibson is something of an expert when it comes to themes of forgiveness. His sequel to The Passion of the Christ, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, is set to rise on May 6, 2027.