LOS ANGELES, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Actor Mel Gibson apologized on Tuesday for making anti-Semitic remarks in a drunken rant and asked to meet Jewish leaders, but several called on the Hollywood superstar to first show deeds and not offer words.

Separately, U.S. television network ABC pulled a program about the Holocaust that Gibson’s company was producing, and a Los Angeles official defended the sheriff’s department’s handling of Gibson’s arrest against charges that he was shown favoritism.

“I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested,” Gibson said in a statement.
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“I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing,” Gibson said.

But several Jewish leaders said he must first complete his recovery program and and perform acts of goodwill such as visiting Nazi death camps before they would answer Gibson’s plea for help.

“We will know when the time is, but the time is certainly not when his press agents think it is,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center. “I certainly think he is facing his alcoholism, and now I think he needs to face the statements of bigotry and anti-Semitism the same.”
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“Mel had bloodshot eyes,” Todd Hausberger of Phoenix tells In Touch. “He was slurring his words.”

By 2 a.m. Mel decided to hit the road. “We all offered him rides and he shrugged it off,” recalls Kimberly Lesak of Louisville, Ky. Police arrested Mel 36 minutes later for speeding and his blood-alcohol level was 0.12 - well above California’s 0.08 legal limit.

Now, his rep confirms that the Passion of the Christ director has entered a rehab program. Find out more and see more exclusive photos in the new issue of In Touch.