Joe Eszterhas was on the Today show this morning to discuss his letter to Mel Gibson that accuses Gibson of intense anti-Semitism, serious violence, and of knocking over an “expensive, beautifully-carved totem pole,” among other things. In the segment, Eszterhas repeated many of the accusations — that Gibson’s volatility had become terrifying, that Gibson had described “sexual butchery” to Eszterhas’s teenage son while they were all in Costa Rica, and that said son had recorded some of Gibson’s outburst. Why would Eszterhas continue to work with Gibson after the many incidents recounted in the letter? Because he really wanted to make the movie, plus he was under contract, he said. And he insisted that he did sever personal ties with Gibson after the trip to Costa Rica. “I never spoke to him after that,” Eszterhas said. As for the supposed recording, Eszterhas said he doesn’t know what he’s going to do with it. “I’m not going to stand for people calling me a liar.”
