Robert Downey Jr. Calls for Forgiveness of Mel Gibson in Award Speech

Actually, I asked Mel to present, uh, this award to me for a reason.

Because when I couldn't get sober, he told me not to give up hope, and he urged me to find my faith.

Didn't have to be his or anyone else's, as long as it was rooted in forgiveness.

And I couldn't get hired, so he cast me in the lead of a movie that was actually developed for him, and he kept a roof over my head, and he kept food on the table.

And most importantly, he said that if I accepted responsibility for my wrongdoings, and if I embraced that part of my soul that was ugly, "hugging the cactus," he calls it.

He said that if I hugged the cactus long enough, I'd become a man of some humility, and that my life would take on a new meaning.

And I did, and it worked. Um, all he asked in return was that, uh, someday I help the next guy in some small way.

Uh, it's reasonable to assume that at the time he didn't imagine the next guy would be him.

Or that someday was tonight. So anyway, on this special occasion, and in light of the recent holidays, including Columbus Day- ... I humbly ask that you join me, unless you are completely without sin, in which case you picked the wrong industry- ... in forgiving my friend his trespasses, offering him the same clean

slate you have me, and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame.

He's hugged the cactus long enough.