Mel Gibson clears air

Mel Gibson, who has been essentially mum since tapes of him ranting at Oksana Grigorieva were leaked, has finally broken his silence.

Gibson refers to the recordings as, "one terribly awful moment in time, said to one person, in the span of one day", and something that, "doesn't represent what I truly believe or how I've treated people my entire life".

He also said he didn't care if he ever acted again.

In the Deadline Hollywood interview, coming as the May release of The Beaver looms, Gibson expressed regret and anger at himself but also held his ground about what people heard.

"You have to put it all in the proper context of being in an irrationally heated discussion at the height of a breakdown, trying to get out of a really unhealthy relationship," he said.

The tapes eventually were revealed as having come from one day's continuing argument.

He told Deadline that the tapes had been edited.