{"id":55684,"date":"2020-06-26T16:08:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T22:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=55684"},"modified":"2020-06-26T16:08:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T22:08:03","slug":"a-famed-hollywood-screenwriter-has-previously-backed-up-winona-ryders-claim-that-mel-gibson-called-jews-oven-dodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/a-famed-hollywood-screenwriter-has-previously-backed-up-winona-ryders-claim-that-mel-gibson-called-jews-oven-dodgers\/","title":{"rendered":"A famed Hollywood screenwriter has previously backed up Winona Ryder\u2019s claim that Mel Gibson called Jews \u2018oven dodgers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GABE FRIEDMAN<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Los Angeles Magazine unearthed a podcast episode from last year in which a prominent Hollywood screenwriter backs up Winona Ryder\u2019s recent claims about Mel Gibson, namely that he is anti-Semitic and called the Jewish actress an \u201coven dodger.\u201d<\/p>\n

On an episode of the magazine\u2019s \u201cThe Originals\u201d podcast, Joe Eszterhas \u2014 who wrote the scripts for films like \u201cBasic Instinct\u201d and \u201cFlashdance\u201d \u2014 said Gibson repeatedly called Jews \u201coven dodgers,\u201d \u201cHebes\u201d and \u201cJew boys\u201d in his presence.<\/p>\n

The story began in 2010, when Gibson reached out to Eszterhas, who is not Jewish, about collaborating on a potential movie about the Maccabees, the Jewish rebels at the heart of the Hanukkah story. Gibson\u2019s infamous drunken anti-Semitic rant to a police officer had occurred years earlier, damaging his reputation in the industry, and Eszterhas said Gibson was interested in telling \u201ca story of Jewish independence and Jewish strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining Gibson at the actor\u2019s Costa Rica estate, Eszterhas said he quickly noticed that Gibson\u2019s motivations were backward. In addition to the anti-Semitic epithets he used to talk about Jews, Eszterhas claims that Gibson said \u201cWhat I really want to do with this movie is convert the Jews to Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eszterhas wrote Gibson a disgruntled letter after the project fell apart, and it was published in full on The Wrap in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve come to the conclusion that you never had, or have, any intention of making a film about the Maccabees,\u201d Eszterhas wrote. \u201cI believe you announced the project with great fanfare \u2014 \u2018a Jewish Braveheart\u2019 \u2014 in an attempt to deflect continuing charges of anti-Semitism which have dogged you.\u201d<\/p>\n

A representative for Gibson called Ryder\u2019s comments \u201c100% untrue\u201d this week. In the wake of her claims, however, Gibson has been dropped from the cast of the upcoming animated film \u201cChicken Run 2.\u201d<\/p>\n

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