Mel Gibson can testify in Harvey Weinstein’s LA trial, but can’t be asked about antisemitism

Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, a judge ruled Friday, though he cannot be questioned about his past anti-Semitic comments after a lawyer asked.

Weinstein attorney Mark Werksman argued that if Gibson takes the stand, he should be cross-examined over past anti-Semitic and racist comments.

Judge Lisa B. Lench denied the request, but said the defense may ask if Gibson had any motivation against Weinstein because he is Jewish.

The 66-year-old actor and director Gibson was one of many witnesses, and by far the most famous, whose identity was revealed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Lench ruled that Gibson can testify in support of his masseuse and friend, who will be known as Jane Doe #3 at trial.

Weinstein is charged with committing sexual acts through restraint against the woman, one of 11 rapes and assaults in the 70-year-old’s trial.

Weinstein pleaded not guilty and denied any consensual sexual activity.

Prosecutors said that after a massage from the woman at a California hotel in Beverly Hills in May 2010, a naked Weinstein followed her into the bathroom and masturbated.

Weinstein’s lawyers argued against having Gibson testify, saying that what he learned from the woman while receiving a massage from her is not a “new complaint” by law from the woman under which Gibson would take the stand.

A “new complaint” under California law allows for the introduction of evidence of sexual assault or other crime if the victim voluntarily reported it to someone else relatively soon after it happened.

Prosecutors said that when Gibson happened to bring up Weinstein’s name, the woman had a traumatic reaction and Gibson understood that she had been sexually assaulted.

Gibson did not recall the timing of the exchange, but the prosecution will use another witness, Allison Weiner, who recalls speaking to both Gibson and the woman in 2015.

Judge Lench said Gibson’s testimony will depend on how the prosecutor describes the exchange with him when she takes the stand, and she can choose to rule against it at that point.

Werksman argued that Gibson had such prejudice both because Weinstein is Jewish, and because Weinstein published a book criticizing the depiction of Jews in the Gibson-directed 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ.

“Any evidence of Mr. Gibson’s racism or anti-Semitism would give rise to a bias against my client, challenging him,” Werksman said.

The lawyer briefly and incorrectly stated that he thought the film won an Academy Award for Best Picture, but Weinstein, whose films once dominated the Oscars, shook his head as he sat at the defense table.

“Sorry, my client would know better than I do,” Werksman said. “But it was an award-winning film.”

The defense also argued that Gibson was trying to whitewash his image by focusing on Weinstein’s misconduct and asserting himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement.

The prosecution argued that Gibson had made no such suggestions about himself and that at the time of the conversation with his masseuse, he said he was discussing a business deal with Weinstein, which showed there was no such bias.

Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Gibson’s earlier comments “despicable,” but said they were irrelevant to the limited purposes for which he would be called.

Gibson’s testimony raises the prospect of two of Hollywood’s once most powerful men, who have suffered public ruin, face each other in court.

An email requesting comment from a Gibson representative was not immediately returned.

In one of several similar statements Friday, Lench also felt that Melrose Place actor Daphne Zuniga could testify in a similar capacity for a woman known at trial as Jane Doe #4, who Weinstein is accused of murdering in 2004 or 2005. have raped.

The Associated Press usually does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence before being convicted in 2020 for rape and sexual assault in New York. The state’s highest court has approved his appeal in that case.

He was then taken to Los Angeles for a trial that began Monday, five years after women’s stories about him gave a huge boost to the #MeToo movement.

Friday’s quarrels came a day after the premiere of the film She Said, which tells the story of the work of the two New York Times reporters whose stories toppled Weinstein.

Weinstein’s lawyers had previously tried to postpone the Los Angeles trial because publicity from the film could compromise the jury, but the judge rejected their request.

The process is expected to take eight weeks. The judge and attorneys will return to the jury selection process Monday morning and opening statements are expected to begin on October 24.