Meet Hollywood’s “Special Ambassadors”…
This news was announced yesterday, Jan. 16th…the President-Elect of the United States named three Hollywood Actors as his “special envoys” – here is the announcement:
President-elect Donald Trump has named Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone as Hollywood’s “special ambassadors,” with the aim of boosting domestic production of film and TV shows as the entertainment industry increasingly opts to shoot in other countries.
“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump wrote on Thursday in a Truth Social post. “These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!”
Mel Gibson receiving this honor reminded me of this story, which created headlines in 2020:
Wynona Ryder’s Shocking Mel Gibson Charges!
In 2020, Actress Wynona Ryder made headlines for things she says that Actor Mel Gibson allegedly once said to her.
As Newswer reported at the time:
Winona Ryder has revealed some shocking and horrible things that Mel Gibson once said to her in an interview with the UK-based Sunday Times. “We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar,” Ryder, 48, told the news outlet. She added that something came up about the Jewish faith, at which point the “Mad Max” actor said, “You’re not an oven dodger, are you?” — an apparent reference to the way bodies of Jewish prisoners were incinerated in Nazi death camps.
At the same industry soiree, Ryder claims Gibson asked her friend, who is gay, “‘Oh, wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’” Gibson denied that any of these things ever happened, but Ryder has said that allegedly he later tried to apologize for his offensive statements.
Gibson has come under fire before for his actions and statements, and this Trump announcement reminded me of some other stories about Mel Gibson.
“Heaven And Mel!”
I want to share an amazing story about Mel Gibson that is a terrific e-book on kindle – and afterwards I will share MY Mel Gibson encounter as well!
First, let’s hear from the late, acclaimed Author Joe Eszterhas!
The Amazing Story Of Joe Eszterhas!
First, do you know the provocative Author of “Showgirls” and “Basic Instinct”? Well, this Kindle single will change all of that!
That’s right, Eszterhas wrote what is, to me, one of the wildest, most offensively entertaining movies ever made – “Showgirls!”
Eszterhas also wrote a brilliant film called “Music Box” – that tells the story of a Hungarian-American immigrant who is accused of having been a war criminal. The plot revolves around his daughter, an attorney, who defends him, and her struggle to uncover the truth.
I mention this because that plot line factors into the story of “Heaven And Mel”.
Joe Takes On Mel Gibson!
Joe Eszterhas NEVER shied away from controversy – and after he “found religion” – which he explains how this happened to him in this e-book – he began to write books about the entertainment industry.
Joe Eszterhas wrote several caustic books about the movie industry – but his e-book “Heaven And Mel” was, to me, his finest work ever!
Here are some of the things he alleged happened between him and Gibson.
Heaven And Mel!
This is an AMAZING e-book – it’s Joe’s story about his ill-fated attempt to work with Mel Gibson – which led to a global confrontation over their planned movie – a film that had a very religious focus…
As Amazon says so succinctly: “Heaven and Mel” is Eszterhas’s explosive, unabridged, no-holds-barred account of their effort to work together. It is a Hollywood story of anger and hatred, of anti-Semitism and fathers and sons, and of a movie star’s tragic sexual obsession.
Joe tells the story of how he tried to work with Gibson, even with his concerns over the Actor’s public tirades and highly-publicized arrest:
Here are three choice excerpts to give you an idea of what Joe says he experienced:
The Enema Offer!
Well, here’s a hilarious, and very strange, interaction that Eszterhas had with Gibson while staying at the actor’s Malibu residence. The star excitedly tried to persuade him to try out his personal enema machine. Eszterhas declined.
“…Mel says to me, ‘I’ve got this enema kit upstairs. It cleans all the poison and shit out of you. It’s better than a colonic. I’ll hook you up if you want. An hour later you’re done. Clean as a whistle.’
I thank him. It’s very nice of him to offer to hook me up personally to his enema kit.
Thank you, but no thank you!”
The alleged revelations continue:
The Bad Photo Tirade!
Eszterhas also has a scary story about the night Mel went into a rage in front of the Author, his wife and son, and a number of other guests…all because he didn’t like the way he looked in a photo!
Here is that excerpt:
“HE HURLS HIS CELLPHONE against the stone wall and screams, ‘I look so fucking old! I look horrible! That fucking whore (Oksana) is destroying me! She’s taking my looks! I hate her! She’s destroying my life!’
He is screaming full-throated: ‘Look at me!! Fucking look at me! Look how terrible I look! Answer me, God! Why did you turn your back on me! Fuck you! Fuck you!’
He steps a few feet away and screams into the sky, ‘I’m not gonna take it up the ass anymore and say, Thank you, your Honor!’”
And here is one more story about the Actor:
The Hit Man!
The most chilling story from the book revolves around Gibson’s divorce from Oksana Grigorieva…
Here is what Eszterhas says happened one night when he was alone with Gibson – and Joes says this is what Gibson said to him about his estranged wife:
“His back still turned to me, he says, ‘I’m going to have her killed.’
I gape at him: What did he say?
He turns slowly back to me and looks me in the eye. “I’m going to make her disappear,’ he says. ‘She’s going to be gone. Gone! And no one will ever know it’s me. No one! I’m not going to live this way the rest of my life! She is evil! They worship the devil where she comes from!
She’s going to disappear!’
WOW. And there are many more stories as well – like I said, this is a terrific book!
MY Mel Encounter!
While reading “Heaven And Mel”, I kept being reminded of his boorish behavior, because I experienced it firsthand!
I was at the Cannes Film Festival when they announced the Planet Hollywood restaurant franchise…here is Michael Castner interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger outside The Carlton Hotel while I look on from the left…
Michael was my Host in Cannes several times, and while at the film festival one year we had to make a quick trip up to London for a day to film the opening of Planet Hollywood London.
Since we were in Cannes, the entire team got a special assignment: we would be covering the opening of Planet Hollywood London for an E! special – I did a number of these, including the original opening in New York, as well as Las Vegas, London, Mall Of America and more!
We all woke up early in the morning, took the 90 minute flight to London, checked into a hotel, dropped our bags and grabbed our equipment, and headed to Planet Hollywood to shoot the grand opening.
Because we were doing a one hour special on the opening, we got inside the restaurant during the day – and Michael interviewed Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. It was always fun to be inside with the stars: Arnold was a true pro, Bruce did what he was asked, and Sylvester Stallone was always terrific.
I had the opportunity to interview Stallone many times, and he was always gracious, self-deprecating, honest and FUNNY. A really genuinely nice guy!
After the interviews were done, Alex and Michael worked on scripts inside the restaurant, and I went outside with George and Oscar to get a place on the red carpet for the star-studded arrivals…
Rain Delay!
On this opening night, the red carpet was delayed for over an hour due to rain – Michael had to stay inside to stay dry for celebrity interaction inside, and George, Oscar and I held our spot on the carpet – and waited – and waited – all in the pouring rain – so by the time the stars arrived, we were soaked!
My Mel Encounter!
Once the rain stopped, they opened the red carpet, and thousands of fans – no matter how wet – went crazy and cheered everyone there. It was a huge crowd, and Stallone went up to stands and shook hands with fans. Class act. One of the first people on the red carpet was Mel Gibson, who walked right up to me with a smile on his face.
I said to him, “what’s your first thought about tonight?”
And he says without missing a pause, “that you shouldn’t have put so much grease in your hair.”
Well, I had just waited in a rainstorm – with no umbrella – i was soaked and my hair was slicked back – but apparently Mel Gibson thought it would be funny to make fun of me.
I paused for the briefest of moments, just said quickly: “aside from that, why do you think the fans are here tonight?”
He gave me an answer, I followed up with one more question, and he moved along…and the whole time I’m talking to him I’m thinking, “I don’t care what sort of an ass you are – just give me my soundbites.”
Mel Gibson’s Reputation!
It was well known in the entertainment media that Mel responded much better to women than to men, and that he was caustic and sarcastic to the press. I guess many of the Joe Eszteras stories bear that out…and as I just told you – he was, to me, just a total dick…for no reason at all. He said that snarky comment because he could. I’ve interviewed a ton of celebrities, and you knew who was good and who wasn’t…but you still had to suck it up and get the story.
So, with that unpleasant memory of Mel with me, I found “Heaven And Mel” even more fascinating to read – and there are stories in this book that are shocking – a big kudos to a terrific job by Joe Eszterhas capturing the real Mel Gibson!
I separate an Artist’s personal life from their professional work in most cases, but to me Gibson doesn’t seem to be what Hollywood needs as an Ambassador right now…Sylvester Stallone on the other hand has always been gracious and professional whenever I dealt with him.
I spent time with him on several occasions, including the opening of Planet Hollywood in Bangkok and Singapore…here’s a look at that experience:
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If you enjoy these moments, please share on social media – and let me know what you think of this “Special Envoy” announcement.
Categories: Books / Media, Cult Movies, Hollywood, Memoirs, Politics, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, The President Of The United States, Travel, Travel Memoir, True Hollywood Mystery
johnrieber 
I have read some unflattering accounts of Mel Gibson’s behaviour so this isn’t a surprise. I suppose many famous actors have ‘god’ complexes and it is very hard for them to age.
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He is as bad as the stories suggest…thanks for the comment!
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Yes, a shame.
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I love hearing your stories and experiences with the actors up-close and personal. After hearing about Mel’s exploits and controversies, it comes as no surprise that he was so rude to you. Disappointing that anyone would make fun of someone working hard in the rain, but unsurprising. Yikes!
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I’ve been lucky to hang out with so many great Artists: I danced at the Cannes Film Festival with Nicole Kidman and need to share that memory soon – plus great encounters with Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey , Robin Williams and more…Mel was one of the few well known creeps…thanks for commenting, always great to hear from you!
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The sad thing is that they are probably better qualified for their roles than all of his other picks. The fact that they are all of dubious character means they should fit in well with him. In the meantime, the rest of the world laughs.
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Look, if they help bring production back to California then I’m all for it, but I assure you that anything they’ve worked on the past decade as been overseas or in another state, NOT Hollywood
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I wonder if Trump realised that when he appointed them? To my eyes, all three of them are way past their best anyway.
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If you look at the “celebrities” who support him, they are of the Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan and James Woods variety – that kinda says it all
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Yup. Scumbags 🤣
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such an odd move, but I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by anything. they said they are trying to come up with a plan for something to do.
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Odd indeed…we will see!
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The concept is more decorative than useful, but let’s see how it is going to work.
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Well said!
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Thank you.
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I’ll just take a wait and see approach to this whole process. I, like you, try to separate the professional lives of actors from their personal lives so I can enjoy their work, but it certainly isn’t easy, especially if you experienced it first-hand. Sadly, one of the worst experiences I had with a celebrity was with Larry Gatlin of all people. I’m hoping I just caught him at the wrong time, but I’ve clearly never forgotten it either.
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I have worked in entertainment for decades, and most of my encounters have been terrific – but a few will always be remembered, especially when their reputations precede them…if this special envoy somehow helps increase production in LA then bravo – since I know many who just can’t find jobs in Hollywood due to so many shows moving out of state or overseas….
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As always, some interesting insights from you, John. It also reminded me just how good ‘Music Box’ is. That’s a film that should get more attention.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Great point Pete it sure is!
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I’m not sure if Tom Hardy really said it , but I’ve always loved the quote that’s attributed to him: “I was raised to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO.” Mel certainly has never learned that. And I suspect this ambassadorship is like you say … another attempt to keep people from facing real problems. Those big issues are hard to fix and take real commitment and problem solving!
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I just heard about this Hollywood “ambassadorship” this morning on the news, and I don’t think I really know what to make of it. It was fascinating to read your personal experiences and thoughts about Gibson and Stallone. I wonder what will come of this “appointment”?!
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It’s very vague to be sure, but I think it’s just one of countless announcements to come – designed in my opinion to misdirect people from more serious issues and promises not kept – “look! Squirrel!” Thanks for commenting!
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