The Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has accused Mel Gibson of sabotaging a planned film about a famous 2nd century BC Jewish revolt for antisemitic reasons in an explosive letter to the disgraced actor and director.
...
Studio Warner Bros yesterday announced the cancellation of The Maccabees, which Gibson had been attached to direct, suggesting that Eszterhas's script lacked "
a sense of triumph". In response, Eszterhas wrote a nine-page letter to Gibson in which he accused his former collaborator of using the project "
to deflect continuing charges of antisemitism which have dogged you, charges which have crippled your career". He also cited occasions upon which Gibson had threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, Oksana Gregorieva, and accused the film-maker and actor of using offensive terms such as "
hebes", "
oven-dodgers" and "
Jewboys" to describe Jews during their time working together.
...
In response, Gibson issued a statement via rival blog Deadline in which he accused the screenwriter of delivering a substandard screenplay and said "
the great majority" of the accusations made against him were "
utter fabrications".
...
"
Contrary to your assertion that I was only developing Maccabees to burnish my tarnished reputation, I have been working on this project for over 10 years and it was publicly announced eight years ago," he continued. "I absolutely want to make this movie; it's just that neither Warner Brothers nor I want to make this movie based on your script. Honestly, Joe, not only was the script delivered later than you promised, both Warner Brothers and I were extraordinarily disappointed with the draft. In 25 years of script development I have never seen a more substandard first draft or a more significant waste of time. The decision not to proceed with you was based on the quality of your script, not on any other factor." (
The Guardian)
You've got issues.
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