Mel Gibson. Photo: Georges Biard / Wikipedia.

JNS.org – Contentious actor and director Mel Gibson allegedly accused Jews of stealing an early copy of his immensely controversial 2004 movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” to use against him before its official release.

Conservative American television and radio personality Glenn Beck claimed this week that Gibson made the remarks in August, while the two men were having a discussion after a screening of Gibson’s latest film, “Hacksaw Ridge.”

According to Beck, Gibson said, “They [the Jews] actually went in and stole the movie.”

Many critics slammed “The Passion of the Christ,” which garnered $612 million in ticket sales, as antisemitic for depicting Jews in an unfavorable light and imposing responsibility on them for the crucifixion of Jesus.

Abraham Foxman, the former executive director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), disputed the alleged claim of theft, saying a Jewish religious adviser on the movie had sent a version of the screenplay to the ADL, where a team of Jewish and Christian biblical scholars wrote a critique. According to Foxman, when Gibson received the ADL’s comments, he “went berserk and threatened to sue us, so we returned the script.”

Hours after Beck’s story was published last Friday on his website, glennbeck.com, it was removed for revealing “details of an off-the-record conversation,” the Daily Beast reported on Thursday.

Gibson has opened himself up to charges of antisemitism on multiple occasions. Two years after the release of “The Passion of the Christ,” he went on an antisemitic verbal tirade when a Jewish police officer pulled him over for driving while intoxicated.

As a result of his anti-Jewish rhetoric, Gibson’s professional reputation has suffered considerably in recent years.