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Mel Gibson, Robert de Niro, $100 million and broken contract. What doesn't add up

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Actor Mel Gibson allegedly turned down an offer worth $100 million because of the views of another famous actor with whom he would collaborate, says a popular message on social media. It was copied by MP Grzegorz Gaża from Law and Justice. This message has nothing to do with the truth. We explain where it came from and why it was created.

We show what is true and what is false

We verify fake news, check data, and analyze information from the Internet

“Mel Gibson turned down Netflix's $100 million offer to work with Robert De Niro, saying: 'Keep that woke-promoting clown away from me'” – On January 11, 2025, such a post was published on Facebook website MP Law and Justice Grzegorz Gaża (original spelling). Combined photos of both actors have been added to the entry. The post collected over a thousand reactions and almost 300 comments.

Entries with almost identical content and the same photos were also published by others Polish users Facebook, Threads (portal belonging to Meta) or website X. The entry on the latter social networking site has been viewed almost 213,000 times. times.

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Some Internet users believed the message and praised Gibson in the comments. “Mel has always been decent”; “Gibson did the right thing”; “Mel is a great guy. He has his principles, he always has”; “Bravo. Congratulations on your attitude”; “I am impressed, the value cannot be sold” – they wrote (original spelling of all entries).

Some people wondered if the message was true. “It is not known what the truth is, Gibson is already at such an age that he certainly would not refuse $100,000,000. He will definitely accept any role”; “Even if it's a made-up story, it's 100% probable. And the most correct interpretation. Either way: Mel, you're a guy. And de Niro, one more proof that it's not enough to be a great actor, even like him,” they commented .

“Sharing and duplicating fake news should be punishable. Especially for MPs. Shame,” wrote one of the Facebook users under MP Gaża's entry. He was not the only one who suggested that the message was false. “You must have low consciousness to believe in such 'news'. I sympathize”; “This is Fake. You are sharing false, fabricated information”; “Unfortunately, you are repeating fake news”; “I feel sorry for those people on websites who follow these rumors, believing them to be true, and writing new comments, wading into this swamp of lies,” commented subsequent Internet users.

What does “woke” mean?

Let's start with what the English word “woke” means. It comes from black slang from the United States, but has lost its original meaning, explains the editorial team “The Economist“The term “woke” – i.e. “awakened” – originally meant a person who is well-informed, up to date, aware of what is happening around him.

The phrase “stay woke” was first used by singer Huddie William Ledbetter, known as Lead Belly. He is the author of the song “Sctottsboro Boys”, which tells the story of nine black boys and young men wrongly accused of raping two white women. In the first trial in 1931 in Alabama, eight of them were sentenced to death.

The phrase “stay woke” gained popularity with the development of the Black Lives Matter movement, a social movement for the rights of black people developing in the United States after 2013, when George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch member, was acquitted who in February 2012 killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin while on patrol. However, with its spread on social media, the process of changing the meaning of this slogan began.

The scope of meaning has been expanded. “Woke” came to be used to describe a person who is aware of social crises related to homophobia, racism, sexism and other forms of exclusion, as well as to describe a person who responds to these crises. However, the word quickly gained political meaning and is used as an insult.

“The definition of 'woke' changes depending on who you ask,” the editorial team wrote in 2024 ABC News. “Woke”, i.e. conscious and responsive – this is understood by members of left-wing and progressive parties. For conservatives, it is an umbrella term for progressive values ​​that you feel negatively about. Many representatives of the right talk about “rejecting the woke ideology.”

People who describe themselves as “anti-woke” – politicians or right-wing activists – are people who oppose the alleged aversion or even hatred towards traditional values ​​that people with left-wing views have.

The source of the reports is a satirical website

In early January 2025, the news about Gibson allegedly rejecting $100 million from a large streaming service circulated widely on English-language social media, including: on Facebook, Instagram, X and Threads.

As we checked, the message first appeared on December 19, 2024 on the English-language website Esspots.com. She is known for publishing satirical content. The texts published on it are not based on facts.

Page creators in the “” tababout us” they write: “Welcome to the American website Esspots (a subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in news satire and parody), a place where you can find satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and publishers are committed to bringing you the latest and greatest fake news and absurditiesall with a healthy dose of humor and satire” (editor's bold).

Articles published on this site are marked as satire in the keywords just below the title. At the end of the text about Mel Gibson, in bold font, the editors stipulate: “It's satire, it's not true”.

An article published on December 19, 2024 on Esspots.com is marked as satire.esspots.com

Gibson, anti-Semitism, “woke” and satirical sites

This is not the first time that satirical sites have created false stories about Mel Gibson in the context of the “woke” movement. They may result from his previous intolerant and controversial statements. In 2006, the actor dumped anti-Semitic insults at the policeman who stopped him for a road check and stated that Gibson was driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2020, actress Winona Ryder in an interview with “The Times” she talked about Gibson's anti-Semitic and homophobic comments from the 1990s, which he made against her (Ryder he confesses Judaism) and her friend.

It was not the first time that Internet users believed satirical messages about Gibson (and breaking off cooperation with Robert de Niro).

In December 2023, English-language posts claimed that “Mel Gibson is pulling out of $33 million project” with Robert De Niro. Then the American fact-checking editorial office Snopes she explained that the source of the message was a satirical website.

Then, in May 2024, the news circulated that “Mel Gibson (devout Catholic and director of The Passion of the Christ) is quitting a multi-million dollar project with Robert De Niro” because “he cannot work with woke people.”

The agency then checked these reports Reuters. “Such a project does not exist. This is false information,” a Gibson spokesman told Reuters. Here source transmission was mentioned satirical Esspots.com website.

In July 2024, Internet users argued that actors Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg and the owner of the X website, Elon Musk, were setting up a film studio where “anti-wake” productions would be made. It's not true what we described on Konkret24. In December of the same year we denied fake news that another famous actor Denzel Washington allegedly rejected a film role for which he was supposed to receive $200 million due to his aversion to “woke culture”.

Main photo source: Facebook



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