I'm told by a Mel Gibson insider that he has no plans for any TV interviews "anytime soon". I do know that NBC's Dateline is pulling together a Mel-in-crisis piece for this Sunday (they asked me to go on camera along with GMA, MSNBC & CBS, but I've declined all the TV requests cuz it's unseemly.). So let's look at the anchor sweepstakes for Gibson's first on-camera mea culpa, shall we? This is my speculation, now, and not anyone's close to Mel. Well, ABC canceled his Holocaust TV miniseries, so they're probably out of the running (not to mention Barbara Walters' diss on The View yesterday). And, depending on how that Dateline segment pans out, Brian Williams may be shut out. Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly has boasted repeatedly how the movie rights to one of his books was optioned by Gibson, so that could be a factor for The Factor. (Already, Bill's doing the "Has It Been Fair Coverage?" angle.) A Mel and CNN's Anderson Cooper pairing would end up as the battle of blue eyes. I can't see Mel doing 60 Minutes, but I could imagine him sitting down with Katie Couric who'd chauffeur him around Malibu just to score the coup for CBS News. But my best guess is Gibson will go for the global, so the softest of softball questioners Larry King it is. (I'm hoping Larry can't find a babysitter that night so Bob Costas fills in.) But before or after Mel's inevitable appearance on Leno?

The Jewish community is starting to respond -- some warmly, some more coldly -- after Mel Gibson today admitted he made "vitriolic and harmful" anti-Semitic slurs, apologized to the Jewish community, and asked "for its help understanding where those vicious words came from." I'm told by a source intimate with the Oscar-winning actor, director and producer that "there are some Jewish leaders who've reached out to him, and he has reached out to some Jewish leaders." So far, the contacts are being kept private. But I'm told that's been extremely difficult given the media frenzy around the slur scandal. "A rabbi I won't name but who represents a huge congregation emailed an offer to Mel to speak at a service. Before anyone could respond, a call came in from the media asking for comment on that offer," the insider said. I've learned that call was from TMZ.com, which is now reporting the rabbi was David Baron of Temple of the Arts, the largest synagogue in the United States, and the offer was to speak at his temple on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. 

UPDATED: *The American Jewish Committee said it "welcomed" Mel Gibson's apology to the Jewish community, but noted "that true contrition must stand the test of time." Here's the full statement from its website: "In the Jewish tradition, we are very receptive of repentance, but complete repentance is measured by actions, not just words, over time," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade when arrested for DUI last weekend was both outrageous and hurtful. While we appreciate his statement of apology, more importantly, we look forward in the months and years ahead to Gibson matching his contrition with his own deeds."*

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, made the point today that Gibson's latest apology specifically to Jews is just a beginning. "Regarding Mel Gibson’s apology today for his anti-Semitic comments," Hier said in a statement given to me from Israel where he is handing out funds for aid and shelter to Israelis, "anti-Semitism and bigotry, like substance abuse and alcoholism, are long and private processes that cannot be treated in the public arena. Anti-Semitism is not born in one day and can not be cured in one day and certainly not through the issuing of a press release. When Gibson embarks on a serious long-term effort to address that bigotry and anti-Semitism, he will find the Jewish community more than willing to engage and help him." (See my interview With Rabbi Hier from yesterday before today's apology.)

The Anti-Defamation League today "accepted" Gibson's apology to the Jewish community. Abraham Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement on its website: "This is the apology we had sought and requested. We are glad that Mel Gibson has finally owned up to the fact that he made anti-Semitic remarks, and his apology sounds sincere. We welcome his efforts to repair the damage he has caused, to reach out to the Jewish community, and to seek help. Once he completes his rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, we will be ready and willing to help him with his second rehabilitation to combat this disease of prejudice."

STATEMENT FROM MEL GIBSON on August 2, 2006: There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge. I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words. The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God’s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith. I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing. I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed. This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It’s about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad.

I understand that ICM will be making a statement today re Mel Gibson. ICM decision not to make a statement today. The agency will keep Mel Gibson, its client of 18 years. More Hollywood power players speak up publicly about the slur scandal. Today's Los Angeles Times beats The New York Times' coverage of the Mel Gibson slur scandal fallout by a mile. That's because of the article by Claudia Eller and Claire Hoffman featuring "several prominent Hollywood figures [who] broke the industry's silence by publicly condemning the star." Quoted first is Sony Pictures movie chairwoman Amy Pascal, who was the only studio chief to speak to the reporting pair on the record. "It's incredibly disappointing that somebody of his stature would speak out that way, especially at this sensitive time," she told the paper. Next was producer Arnon Milchan, an Israeli citizen, who said: "To make all of your money from Jews in Hollywood, and then have a few drinks and say you hate Jews, is shocking. If you are so upset with the Jews, don't work for them." Producer Jerry Weintraub is quoted calling Gibson "an old friend of mine. I am so sad, so hurt and so disappointed. I don't have words to express it. I really feel bad for him as a human being. I never knew this side of him." Producer Laura Ziskin termed it "appalling. In a world in which there is so much hatred, and there is so much violence, to harbor those kinds of feelings … it is so sad." Asked by the paper about ever working with Gibson, Ziskin said: "I don't see that in my future." Veteran talent manager Bernie Brillstein also told the LAT he would not work with Gibson. "If he calls me tomorrow, would I represent him? The answer is no. That doesn't make me right. I just don't like bigots." Until this story, only Ari Emanuel and Oren Aviv had gone public about the Gibson slur scandal. ICM's Jeff Berg told the paper, "I hate what he said, and so does he. His remarks have created a first-class mess, and he has owned up to it. You cannot spin this. This is a question not of how low you can sink, but how you can dig yourself out of this hole." Berg told the LAT he was communicating the actor's remorse to his staff and clients. "We're not going to back away from him in a moment of need," Berg said. "Our goal is to help him, not judge him." 

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