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This morning's LAT brings the shocking and previously unreported news that daredevil Malibu late-night drag-racer Mel Gibson, when not under the influence of mind-altering distilled spirits, appears "friendly," possesses the ability to communicate without expletive-laden anti-Semitic slurs, and in an astounding revelation that will completely destroy all your preconceptions about people who drunkenly mouth off about about ethnic groups against whom they may harbor quiet, ugly prejudices, has actually befriended some Jewish co-workers. Amazing:

"We were kidding around, talking about our kids, he was very friendly," said [Revolution Studios' Tom] Sherak, who met Gibson while working on "Braveheart." Gibson, he added, had a trailer of his new film, "Apocalypto," that he was very excited about. "We talked about the shoot and he was just very upbeat, not stressed out at all."

Said [producer Dean] Devlin: "I consider Mel one of my best friends in Hollywood." Devlin met Gibson while co-producing "The Patriot," in which Gibson starred.

"The day this happened, my wife had gotten this long letter from Mel full of congratulations [for the birth of the Devlins' first child] and talking about the joys of being a parent," Devlin said. "She's Jewish. I'm Jewish. If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense. But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, because there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man."

If the above evidence isn't enough to compel the Anti-Defamation League to dispatch a rescue team to spring the misunderstood, persecuted star from his wrongful imprisonment at Promises Malibu, surely today's further revelations that Gibson employs an Israeli bodyguard or that the (very married) actor may have pursued a comely Jewess during the shooting of Signs will do the trick.