Earlier this week there seemed a tiny glimmer of hope for Mel Gibson that his on-screen career might not have completely ended the day his racist rants were released to the world, when it was announced he’d scored a potentially rehabilitating cameo as a tattooist in The Hangover 2.
Well, now that glimmer has faded, as director Todd Phillips has axed Gibson from the flick. Phillips owns the franchise rights to The Hangover and therefore has final say on these matters, and it seems he came to the decision to hire and then fire Mel after it became clear there were many amongst the cast and crew who simply weren’t prepared to work with him. Phillips commented in a statement that, I thought Mel would hav been great in the movie and I had the full backing of Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew.
Many believe Zach Galifianakis may have been one of the main people against Mel’s inclusion, as he told the Comedy Death-Ray Podcast recently that, “But a movie you’re acting in, you don’t have a lot of control – you just show up and vomit your lines out. I’m not the boss. I’m in a deep protest right now with a movie I’m working on, up in arms about something. But I can’t get the guys to [listen] … I’m not making any leeway.”
So it seems that while Mel may be allowed back on our screens at some point (even if it’s only his name on the credits as as a director), any hope of getting the tide to turn soon is pretty much dead.