Kevin Winter/Getty Images. Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images
Winona Ryder accused Mel Gibson of making anti-semitic and homophobic remarks in a recent interview with The Sunday Times, claiming he asked her if she was an “oven dodger.”
Ryder, who is Jewish, recalled a run-in with Gibson when a Times reporter asked if she had experienced anti-semitism while working in the entertainment industry.
“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends,” she said, listing one example. “And Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”
Ryder also noted that Gibson “tried” to apologize later on.
Gibson has been accused of racism and antisemitism in the past. In July 2006, when Gibson was pulled over for driving under the influence, he asked the police officer if he was “a Jew” and then made several anti-semitic remarks, including, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!”
Ryder recalled other examples of antisemitism she has experienced in Hollywood during her interview with The Sunday Times.
“There are times when people have said, ‘Wait, you’re Jewish? But you’re so pretty!’” She revealed. “There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago, it was a period piece, and the studio head, who was Jewish, said I looked ‘too Jewish’ to be in a blue-blooded family.”
