Mel Gibson has become just as well known for his personal controversies as he has for his acting. In addition to a well-publicized arrest and anti-Semitic rant in 2006, the Lethal Weapon star has had a number of rocky relationships, including an allegedly violent relationship with Oksana Grigorieva and a decades-long marriage to Robyn Moore Gibson. He also has nine children, one of which he shares with current girlfriend, Rosalind Ross. Here’s the inside scoop on Mel Gibson’s first wife and his other important romantic relationships.
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Mel Gibson And Robyn Moore’s Marriage
Mel Gibson met fellow Australian Robyn Moore in 1977, when he was still an unknown actor and she was a young dental nurse. The couple were both 24 years old when they tied the knot in June of 1980. They had seven children together—Hannah, born in 1980; Christian and Edward, both born in 1982; William, born in 1985; Louis, born in 1988; Milo, born in 1990; and Thomas, born in 1999.
Moore was by Gibson’s side during his meteoric rise to fame in the 1980s. The couple were together for more than 25 years and for a while, their marriage was considered one of the most solid in Hollywood. But in a 2002 interview with the Evening Standard, Gibson admitted that the relationship wasn’t perfect.
“The whole relationship thing is tough, any time,” he said. “I’ve been married for 22 years and people don’t go that far these days. It doesn’t happen. You’re going to get ups and downs and you’re going to get days when you really want to strangle each other. That is just going to happen. Every time that happens and you go through a dry spell—and in 22 years that happens a lot—when you come out the other side you’re just so much better at it.”
Their Divorce Was Incredibly Expensive
Unfortunately, Gibson and Moore were not able to come out the other side of every problem they faced. The couple separated in August of 2006, less than a month after Gibson was arrested for drunk driving. Moore filed for divorce in 2009. Gibson admitted that he was reason for the split later that year. “Look. When it’s all said and done, I did a pretty good hatchet job on my marriage myself,” Gibson said in an appearance in The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (as reported by People). “I’m to blame. If you’re inclined to judge, put it here.”
When Gibson and Moore’s divorce was finalized in 2011, it made headlines for its hefty price tag. Because the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement, Gibson was forced to hand over half his worth—about $450 million—in the settlement, which was considered one of the most expensive celebrity divorces of all time. The What Women Want star was also ordered to give half his film residual income to his ex-wife for the rest of his life.
Mel Gibson’s Tumultuous Relationship With Oksana Grigorieva
Not long after Robyn filed for divorce (and some suspect before), Gibson started dating Russian singer-songwriter Oksana Grigorieva. The couple had a daughter, Lucia, on October 30, 2009.
But the new family unit did not stay intact for long—Gibson and Grigorieva in 2010, split just five months after Lucia’s birth. Two months after that, Grigorieva filed a restraining order again Gibson, accusing him of domestic abuse. The claims made headlines, as did a leaked tape recording of Gibson being verbally abusive and yelling racists, sexist profanities at his former girlfriend.
Gibson ended up pleading no contest to a battery charge related to the incident, though the actor insisted the tapes were edited and did not reflect his true feelings. “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,” the actor said in a 2011 interview with Deadline. “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.”
Gibson also claimed he took the plea deal not because he was guilty, but because he wanted to put an end to the media circus surrounding the incident. “I could have continued to fight this for years and it probably would have come out fine,” he explained. “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.”
Gibson Has Been In A Relationship With Rosalind Ross Since 2014
The Mad Max star made headlines once again when he started dating equestrian and aspiring screenwriter Rosalind Ross, who was 34 years his junior. Reportedly, the pair met when Ross got a screenwriting job with Gibson’s production company, Icon Productions.
“Regarding age and relationships, it’s just a number,” Gibson said of their age difference in a 2016 interview. “We dig each other. She is an adult and we dig each other. It might cause a problem and one has a trepidation about these things, but it’s working out great. She is a really special person. I dig her. So there you go. That’s it. What more can one ask?”
In January of 2017, when Ross was 27 and Gibson was 61, she gave birth to their son, Lars Gerard. It was the first child for Ross and the ninth child for Gibson.