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Ever since Mel Gibson's abusive meltdown coincided with his filming of the Jodie Foster-directed The Beaver, his friend of 15 years has been defending the hot-headed star. On tonight's Late Show, however, Foster's narrative seemed to change from "God, I love that man," to a more canned, publicist-friendly, "He's wonderful in the movie, he's extraordinary in the film" one. What gives?

Not only did Foster appear to back off of her blind praise of Gibson tonight—aside from a soft "He's a very good friend" at the end of her discussion with Letterman—she also put some distance between Gibson's troubles and the shooting of her film when she remarked that his misbehavior happened "mostly after we wrapped."

Then, after being asked by Letterman if she was willing to defend Gibson's behavior, Foster shot back—before he'd even finished the question—with an emphatic "No."

Ah, the bonds of friendship, broken only by the need to feed the box office beast.