Mel Gibson responds to Joe Eszterhas recording: 'I have a little bit of a temper'

Mel Gibson has commented on an audio recording released last week that revealed the actor screaming obscenities at screenwriter Joe Eszterhas during a family visit to Gibson's home in Costa Rica. Speaking on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno , Gibson admitted he has "a little bit of a temper", before questioning Eszterhas's judgment in making the clip public. "Has it really come to the place where you can't blow off steam in your own home, even if you're justified?" he asked. Gibson and Eszterhas's public spat dates back to early April, when Eszterhas published a nine-page letter in which he accused the actor of antisemitism following Gibson's rejection of his script for a planned film about Jewish military leader Judah Maccabee. Gibson responded that the script was scrapped because it was of substandard quality. The studio, Warner Bros, said it lacked "a sense of triumph". The audio, which was recorded by Eszterhas's 15-year-old son Nick, catches Gibson in a full-on rant to the screenwriter about the delayed work, in which the actor tells Eszterhas to "hurry the fuck up". "I go to work, you're getting paid, I'm not!" screams Gibson. "I am earning money for a filthy little cocksucker [referring to ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva] who takes advantage of me! Just like every motherfucker!" Gibson's Tonight Show appearance saw him try to play down his behaviour. He again referenced the alleged poor quality of the script as the reason for his extreme reaction. "If he (Eszterhas) put half as much time and effort and creativity and imagination into a screenplay, which he was supposed to write, as he did into that letter, we wouldn't be having this conversation," he told Leno. "It's kind of like you build a house, you hire a guy to put a roof on it, he comes over and eats lunch and talks about the roof, and then you get rained on all night. Wouldn't you be kind of peeved?"