Winona Ryder Says Mel Gibson Once Called Her An 'Oven Dodger'
“Stranger Things” star Winona Ryder discussed her Jewish heritage in an interview ― and who but Mel Gibson showed up in an anecdote about anti-Semitism she’s experienced.
Gibson, whose drunken anti-Jewish rant at a California cop in 2006 derailed his career for years, was on a bigoted roll years earlier at a Hollywood bash where Ryder said she saw him.
Ryder, born Winona Laura Horowitz, told the Sunday Times of London:
“We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, ‘Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?’ And then something came up about Jews, and he said, ‘You’re not an oven dodger, are you?’”
Ryder shook her head, incredulously, as she told the story, according to the Sunday Times. Gibson “tried” to apologize later, she added.
A rep for Gibson disputed Ryder’s claim, telling HuffPost: “This is 100% untrue. She lied about it over a decade ago, when she talked to the press, and she’s lying about it now. Also, she lied about him trying to apologize to her back then. He did reach out to her, many years ago, to confront her about her lies and she refused to address it with him.”
Ryder has previously referenced the incident, which seems to date to the mid-1990s.
The slur story surfaced in a wide-ranging Sunday Times profile of the 48-year-old “Plot Against America” actor, who said she had relatives die in Nazi camps. It caught Twitter’s attention.
Mel Gibson, despite being a racist, anti-Semitic domestic abuser (all on tape), still gets mainstream work in Hollywood https://t.co/LWb2oM7J3Q
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 23, 2020
All right, but apart from the racism, anti-semitism, domestic abuse & misogyny, what has Mel Gibson ever done wrong? pic.twitter.com/d8O9lZj7WL
— Jen Greeneyes (@greeneyes_jen) June 23, 2020
Mel Gibson is truly a terrible man.
— The Contrarian (@Lazy_Contrarian) June 23, 2020
Should’ve been canceled before the idea of canceling existed on the internet. That’s how badly he’s needed to be shunned out of the industry permanently.
— Maybe: Jeff (@KeJiefu) June 23, 2020
Winona Ryder doesn’t accuse Mel Gibson of anti-semitism, Mel Gibson IS anti-semitic. pic.twitter.com/qEalXFhLRW
— Anaïs (@Anabx49) June 21, 2020
I didn’t know Winona Ryder was Jewish. I did know Mel Gibson is a POS.
— frank smith (@WereFked2020) June 23, 2020
"Oven dodger," another reason to despise Mel Gibson like we needed more. #mondaythoughts #MondayVibes https://t.co/PQH2PIyE3H
— Bob Schneider (@Bobndc) June 22, 2020
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.