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August 25, 2015 2:54 pm
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Mel Gibson Accused of Assaulting Reporter at Israeli Film Festival in Australia

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avatar by Shiryn Ghermezian

Mel Gibson. Photo: Facebook.

Mel Gibson. Photo: Facebook.

A photographer for Australia’s Daily Telegraph accused actor Mel Gibson of physical and verbal abuse on Sunday as he left an Israeli film festival in Sydney, the publication reported.

Gibson and his girlfriend, Rosalind Ross, attended the AICE Israeli Film Festival at the Palace Verona theater in Paddington, an eastern suburb of Sydney. Photographer Kristi Miller, 39, said she took a photo of the couple on a street outside the theater, and when she turned around, “He shoved my back really hard.”

Miller said, “It shocked me because I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t know if it was his hands or elbow. He was spitting in my face as he was yelling at me, calling me a dog, saying I’m not even a human being and I will go to hell. He swore and called me a c***. It was non-stop, he didn’t even breathe.”

Miller said Gibson was backing her onto the road outside the theater and that she thought he was going to punch her in the face. The Braveheart star ended his profanity-filled tirade only after his girlfriend intervened.

“It was only when [Ross] grabbed his shoulder and said, ‘That is enough’ that he stopped,” Miller explained. “She said, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.’ They turned and crossed the road and walked off.”

The incident was reported to police on Sunday night, and authorities are now investigating the incident, according to The Daily Telegraph. Gibson’s rep told Daily Mail the actor did “not shove, or spit at anyone,” adding the allegation “is a complete lie.”

A reporter for The Australian, Gina Rushton, said she, too, was mistreated by Gibson at the event — and that his girlfriend stepped in. When Rushton asked the actor how he enjoyed the film he had just watched, Gibson ignored her, raising his voice in conversation with Ross.

When Rushton introduced herself a second time, Gibson asked, “Who are you?” with an emphasis on the ‘‘you,” before walking away, according to The Australian. Ross, who appeared embarrassed, apologized on Gibson’s behalf. “I’m sorry, he’s a bit sick at the moment,” She told Rushton.

Gibson infamously made anti-Semitic comments while being arrested for drunk driving in 2006 in Malibu. He reportedly asked a police officer if he was Jewish, before saying, “F … ing Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.”

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