Winona Ryder told a story back in 2010 that seemed to get by some of us. She was talking to GQ magazine and told about the time she met Mel Gibson. So for our benefit, she’s telling the story again.
This was some time ago. Winny says…
“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends,” she said. “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?’”
The slur is used for jews who weren’t murdered in death camps. Although Winona says she has family she lost in the camps, so I’m sure it was especially biting.
Ryder says Gibson “tried” to apologize later on. I would have loved to have heard that attempt.
Gibson has made so many statements like this over the years that this seems to fall right in line.