Matt Zoller Seitz has accused the cast of
'The Hangover 2' of hypocrisy for booting the 'drunken, bigoted, death-threat-issuing lout'
Mel Gibson from his tattoo artist cameo in the Bangkok-set sequel, whilst last year embracing convicted rapist
Mike Tyson for an extended part in the hit original. A part by the way, that Tyson has since admitted he only took for the drug money. Zoller writes;
There's something about this "Hangover 2" thing that doesn't pass the smell test. It seems, at the very least, yet another example of the selective outrage that fuels controversy-driven entertainment coverage, and Hollywood posturing generally, with actors, directors, producers, studio bosses and other players working themselves into a righteous snit about certain people and offenses while giving others a pass.
We reported that Gibson had been cast on Tuesday, but by the end of the week he was dropped. It's said
Zach Galifianakis gathered the cast together for a meeting with director
Todd Phillips to make sure Gibson was replaced. Fearing a full cast mutiny, Phillips and the studio duly obliged and
Liam Neeson (who never says no to any role)
was quickly hired as his replacement. Only in Hollywood, eh?
Zoller's
well-written and persuasive piece also mentions the movie industries double-standards over the treatments of
Elia Kazan, Alec Baldwin, Roman Polanski, Lindsay Lohan and many, many others who Hollywood have either sent to the gallows, or brushed under the carpet. Personally, I think Gibson is just a victim of 'too soon' and if this had been a year or maybe two in the future, nobody would have even brought it up.