For Mel Gibson, The Bottle Beckons...

After the year he just endured, Mel Gibson was probably looking forward to the holiday season and the rest and peace of mind it would provide him.

Then Carmel Sloane happened.

The 29-year-old Australian blonde claims Gibson is her dad, having banged her hitchhiking mother in the back of his car in 1976, when he was living in the land down under. While he wasn't married at the time, no one likes to be hit with a paternity suit. Especially not at this time of year. Or when one is still trying to get his public perception past a certain drunken anti-Semitic rant one made during a recent arrest.

It's enough to make a man hit the bottle one more time...