Ex-lover’s loose talk saves Gibson £11m
HOLLYWOOD star Mel Gibson has saved £11.4million he had agreed to pay his former girlfriend after they split up – because she couldn’t stop talking about their tempestuous relationship.
A six-year saga over the deal finally ended when a court ruled last week that Gibson should pay no more than £193,000 to Russian Oksana Grigorieva because she had breached the terms of their settlement. The Lethal Weapon and Braveheart star, 60, had agreed to pay Grigorieva, 46, a total of £11.6million after the couple’s acrimonious split in 2010.
The sum was agreed in exchange for Grigorieva’s promise never to release secret recordings she had made of his abusive and violent rants towards her. But almost immediately she went public with the tapes, in which Gibson was heard using the N-word and other derogatory phrases, and ranting about his lover’s ‘fake boobs’ and ‘tight clothes’.
After the public humiliation, Grigorieva accepted a lesser settlement of £581,000 spread over three payments.
Gibson made the first instalment of £193,000 – but after Grigorieva discussed their relationship again on the Howard Stern radio show, a Los Angeles court has ruled that he should not have to pay any more.
Gibson and Grigorieva became lovers as his 30-year marriage to wife Robyn foundered.
The massive original sum was part of the settlement package reached by Gibson and Grigorieva after a bitter custody battle over their daughter Lucia, who is now aged six.