Hate-ranter Mel Gibson to present at Golden Globes

It has been announced that disgraced actor Mel Gibson will present an award at Sunday night’s 73rd Golden Globes Awards.

Gibson is infamous for a number of drunken and antisemitic rants, including an attack on an LA police officer in 2006 when he was arrested for drunk-driving. He allegedly shouted at the officer: "F***king Jews…the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world".

According to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Golden Globes producers were “delighted to announce” the actor’s presence at the event, where he will appear alongside the ceremony’s host, Ricky Gervais.

Gibson released a statement shortly after the 2006 arrest, saying: “I want to apologise specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.”

However, this was not the first time he was alleged to have cast an antisemitic slur.

According to Winona Ryder, he made a joke about the Holocaust to her during a party in the 1990s. "He was really drunk," she said. "Somehow it came up that I was Jewish. He said something about 'oven dodgers', but I didn't get it."

Gibson’s father is a known Holocaust denier, while Gibson’s 2004 film about the life of Jesus, The Passion, came under fire for suggesting that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion.

Ricky Gervais was excited at the prospect of sharing the stage with Gibson once again, however. He tweeted: “Mel Gibson is presenting an award at the Golden Globes. Thank you, Jesus.”

This will not be the first awards ceremony the two men have presented together. In 2010, Mr Gervais introduced Gibson at the Emmy Awards and quipped: “He’s [Gibson] been through a lot. Not as much as the Jews.”