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

- Original post: https://www.twitter.com/i/status/2116283459442213364
- Source account: [@blackishsoull](https://x.com/blackishsoull)
- Source language: English
- Duration: 1:59
- Published: 2026-10-31
- Canonical URL: https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech

## Transcript

[0:00](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/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.

[0:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=4) Because when I couldn't get sober, he told me not to give up hope, and he urged me to find my faith.

[0:12](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=12) Didn't have to be his or anyone else's, as long as it was rooted in forgiveness.

[0:19](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=19) 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.

[0:29](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=29) 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.

[0:44](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=44) 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.

[0:53](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=53) 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.

[1:04](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=64) Uh, it's reasonable to assume that at the time he didn't imagine the next guy would be him.

[1:15](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=75) 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

[1:38](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=98) slate you have me, and allowing him to continue his great and ongoing contribution to our collective art without shame.

[1:45](https://www.translate.mom/transcript/gfdWb4rtMJpl/en/robert-downey-jr-calls-for-forgiveness-of-mel-gibson-in-award-speech?t=105) He's hugged the cactus long enough.