Mel Gibson breaks silence over Oksana tapes

Mel Gibson has broken his silence over the recordings of him and former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva arguing that were leaked last year.

The Beaver actor, who was allegedly heard telling Grigorieva that she "deserved" to be hit by him on the tapes, said that he doesn't "blame" people for having a bad opinion of him but insists that they were "edited" to make him look worse.

Gibson told Deadline: "[The recordings were] 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.

"I've never treated anyone badly or in a discriminatory way based on their gender, race, religion or sexuality. I don't blame some people for thinking [I'm bigoted] though, from all the garbage they heard on those leaked tapes."

Gibson also revealed that he would not care if the scandal destroyed his movie career, saying: "I could easily not act again. It's not a problem."

He also praised Hollywood friends such as Whoopi Goldberg who defended him throughout the scandal and said that he doesn't hold a grudge against those who did not.

Gibson recently escaped jail time in his misdemeanour battery case by pleading no contest. Instead, he has agreed to spend 16 hours at an LA children's charity as community service.