Mel Gibson Breaks Silence on Infamous Tapes: They Don't Define Me

In a new interview with Deadline Hollywood, Mel Gibson has finally broken his silence over the infamous tapes of him berating Oksana Grigorieva last year.

While shrugging off criticism, he takes responsibility for his behavior.

Of the Mel Gibson tapes, the troubled actor says this: "It's one terribly awful moment in time, said to one person in the span of one day, and doesn't represent what I truly believe or how I've treated people my entire life."

Mel also stresses to Deadline that "I've never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality."

While he says the tapes "have been edited," he doesn't blame people who think he's a bigot "from the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes."

He emphasizes the context of an "irrationally, heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship."

Mel also talked about his 2006 DUI arrest, notable for his anti-Semitic rant. Mel felt then that the arrest would be the last straw in his marriage.

It was. He and his wife Robyn separated the day after the arrest.

He remains quiet on his custody battle with Oksana Grigorieva, but says he pleaded contest in the criminal case to spare his family the harassment.

"I could have continued to fight this for years and it probably would have come out fine. But I ended it for my children and my family," he says.

"This was going to be such a circus. You don’t drag other people in your life through this sewer needlessly, so I’ll take the hit and move on."

The interview also goes into great detail about Mel's new movie, Jodie Foster's The Beaver, which some critics say is Mel's best performance ever.