Mel Gibson‘s latest movie trailer caused a buzz on social media this week, but probably not for the reason the actor would hope. In Fatman, Gibson stars as a broken-down and alcoholic Santa Claus, opposite Sons of Anarchy actor Walton Goggins, who plays an assassin hired by a 12-year-old unhappy with a lump of coal. The film’s preposterous plot got plenty of attention, it reminded many of Gibson’s controversial, anti-Semitic remarks.
Fatman was written and directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms, who cast Gibson as a grizzled Santa Claus who is chased down by Goggins’ hitman hired by a disappointed child. Gibson’s Chris Cringle is also involved in a partnership with the U.S. military to raise some extra funds on the site. In the trailer, first published on Entertainment Weekly, Goggins’ assassin tells Gibson, “I’ve come for your head, Fatman!” Gibson replies, “You think you’re the first? You think I got this job because I’m fat and jolly?” The film is scheduled to hit theaters on Nov. 13 and will be available on video on demand on Nov. 17.
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Gibson has been very busy lately, appearing mostly in action movies like Dragged Across Concrete and Force of Nature. He also starred in the 2017 family holiday movie Daddy’s Home 2 as Mark Wahlberg’s on-screen father. His 2016 directing effort Hacksaw Ridge was critically acclaimed and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director, an award he already won for Braveheart. His next film is set to be a remake of the Western classic The Wild Bunch.
When people say “cancel culture is real,” remind them of the time that raging misogynist and anti-Semite Mel Gibson got paid millions of dollars to play Santa Claus. 😒 https://t.co/1HA55Td4gv
— April (@ReignOfApril) October 8, 2020
Whenever Gibson appears in a new project or one is announced, his controversial past is brought up, just as it was when the Fatman trailer was released. He has been accused of anti-Semitism and homophobia in the past. In the most infamous case, he was recorded going on an anti-Semitic rant when he was arrested for a DUI in Los Angeles. During his 2010 split with Oksana Grigorieva, he was accused of domestic violence.
They let Mel Gibson make movies despite his homophobic & anti-semitic rants. He told his wife she’d be “r***d by a pack of ni****s” and they STILL let him make movies & win Oscars.
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) October 8, 2020
Saw him trending, looked up the producers for his next movie and it’s no one I’ll miss.✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/gaztoivGn9
Hollywood stopped working with Gibson for several years, until 2010 when he began slowly resurfacing in smaller projects. In 2011, he worked with Jodie Foster on The Beaver and appeared in Robert Rodriguez’s 2013 action movie Machete Kills. In 2014, Sylvester Stallone welcomed him into the Expendables franchise by casting him in the third film. Fatman is his fourth movie of 2020, as he also has Last Looks and Boss Level completed.
If you want me to watch your movie, don’t cast Mel Gibson.
— number one yoga dad (@HalpernAlex) October 8, 2020
I seem to remember Mel Gibson telling his girlfriend he hopes she gets raped by a pack of “N*ggers.”
— 💜Slightly Unbothered Bianca💜 (@RealKHiveQueenB) October 8, 2020
I won’t be watching his new film.
Reminder that Mel Gibson is an antisemitic, anti-Black bigot who physically assaulted his girlfriend.
— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) October 8, 2020
He blamed Jews for “all the wars in the world.”
He called Winona Ryder an “oven dodger.”
Santa Claus doesn’t exist. Gibson’s career renaissance shouldn’t either.
kinda sucks that mel gibson can trade on his 80s reputation for camp skipping over the fact that he’s a deranged anti-semitie https://t.co/QGVQwawW2H
— David Grossman (@davidgross_man) October 8, 2020
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