Mel Gibson Can Drink Again! Sort Of! Woo!

OK, first an apology for the misleading title - Mel Gibson has been allowed to drink for ages, but now he gets to do it without a judge disapprovingly scowling at him for it.

Mel Gibson has just been told by a judge that he no longer needs to attend courtroom progress reports for the probation he was given when he got drunk and drove around screaming bad things about the Jews that time.

However, just because he doesn't have to appear in court, Mel Gibson still has 18 months of probation left to battle through alone. Which means, although he's allowed to get drunk, we'll have to wait until the middle of 2009 before Mel Gibson can load up on booze, break the law and use the arrest as an excuse to howl Jewish insults into the sky like some sort of sugartit-fixated werewolf again without fear of jail. 

Mel Gibson might be getting sued by the man who wrote the Bible - or whatever - at the moment, but that won't keep him down for long. That's because Mel Gibson has just crossed another hurdle on his road to rehabilitation.

You'll remember that a couple of years ago Mel Gibson was arrested for DUI. No big deal there - even the most minor Hiltons are doing it these days - but what made Mel Gibson's arrest so special was his behaviour at the arrest. In no particular order, during his arrest Mel Gibson managed to say he owned all of Malibu, offer to 'fuck' the male arresting officer and invent the term 'Sugartits'. Oh, and claim that the Fucking Jews were responsible for every single conflict in the history of the world.

Mel's had a long road to walk getting back from that incident - Hollywood shunned him and not as many people went to see his gory little film about the Mayans as expected - but thanks to a round of relentless apologies and rehab, Mel Gibson is back where he once was again, as his recent filmography of zero movies goes to show.

But just because it's easy to win forgiveness from Jodie Foster and the like, it doesn't mean that Mel Gibson is legally in the clear yet. Although he's completed alcohol rehabilitation, attended court-enforced Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and been through a 90-day drink-driving course, Mel Gibson still has 18 months left of his probation. But the good news is that he doesn't have to keep going to court all the time, as Reuters reports:

Oscar-winning film star Mel Gibson, who made worldwide news by unleashing an anti-Semitic tirade during his 2006 arrest for drunk driving, received a judge's approval on Wednesday to serve the rest of his probation without appearing in court again. Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira told the 52-year-old "Passion of the Christ" director that he had completed the requirements of his no-contest plea and was not required to make further progress reports to the court. "You're on your own now with the self-help groups, so this is the most difficult time for you," Mira told a subdued Gibson during a brief hearing in Los Angeles. "Good luck to you as you continue your rehabilitation."

That's a big step, and no mistake - and no doubt there'll be dark times to come - but for now Mel Gibson has every right to celebrate this milestone. And what better way to celebrate than by driving too fast around California, chugging from a bottle of tequila and loudly cursing the Jews for all the terrible things they've ever done? That's the tradition, we've heard.

Read more:

Judge tells actor Mel Gibson "You're on your own" - Reuters