Television Wed Feb 03 2010

Dean Richards Explains the Mel Gibson A-Hole Episode

By Margaret Larkin

If you want to know what happened with the Mel Gibson interview with Dean Richards, check out Dean's blog post about it.

Dean says: "[The PR company] told me that I could talk to [Gibson], but only if I didn't bring up any of his much publicized personal problems of the past few years, and stuck to talking about his movie. I told them no, thanks. I don't do interviews with conditions on them."

A few days later, we were reapproached asking if we would do the interview. I re-explained that I would ask a couple of questions about the movie, but I'd also have to ask pertinent news worthy questions. They apparently wanted to be on WGN. We agreed to do the interview.

Apparently, he thought I'd back off. We don't roll like that in Chicago...I was trying to be courteous, but he forced me to be blunt and then got mad when I did...A star of his caliber, presumably with good PR people, should have been prepared with a simple response...Famous person or not, the true measure of a person is how they act when they think no one is looking. More than the content of the interview, here we get a crystal clear view of a man who claims to be sorry for his actions and claims to be a changed man.

I'm surprised that Mel Gibson hasn't learned from all his years in Hollywood that you have to be careful about what you say in public and to the press. So if he said that about Dean, he clearly has no self control or class. And don't his PR reps know that his rude behavior, also seen with KTLA's Sam Rubin (scroll down for the rude-to-Rubin video), will negatively affect his reputation even more?

I know there are folks out there who could care less about Gibson's behavior, and will see his movies because they like them, being able to separate what he creates from who he is. And maybe they agree and identify with him, even want to be him. After all, here's a guy who has not become any more gracious or refined from his wealth, success, and fame. He's gotten away with it, and continues to profit from it. Even at the expense of his family.

And in case anyone is wondering, Dean is very professional and works really hard. I've seen this first-hand because I've worked with him on the radio side, and he's also given me good advice, which I appreciate. There are other people who've scored juicy media gigs who've become lazy because they have a large support structure and agents who have secured sweet deals for them. But I've seen Dean work, and he seems to take nothing for granted. So Mel Gibson's assumption that Dean is a sleazy reporter is wrong. He was just doing his job, and he seemed composed and professional in response to Gibson's rudeness.