Hayden Panettiere Says It's Time To Forgive Mel Gibson, You Guys

One of the more notable moments from last night’s Golden Globes was Jodie Foster’s semi-rambling, semi-inspirational, semi-coming-out speech after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Reactions to the seven-minute speech ran the gamut from tears to utter confusion, but you will be pleased to know that Foster’s acknowledgment of noted swell all-around guy Mel Gibson led Nashville star Hayden Panettiere to reach the following conclusion: It’s time to forgive him, because, like, being is celebrity is hard, you guys. Also, America.

Sayeth the cheerleader.

“I think forgiving is the best quality because America loves comebacks and they love flaws and for people to admit their mistakes and to grow from them,” Panettiere told Celebuzz while discussing Jodie Foster’s emotional Cecil B. DeMille speech. “We all do. They can be big, they can be small.”

On board so far. We are a nation that is very quick to judge and tear down, and we do love a comeback. Look at R. Kelly. That dude is a Grade-A creep, but he puts out a new record and a couple bonkers spoken-word music videos and suddenly we’re all “OMG ‘Ignition’ is my jam!”

But please, continue.

“The unfortunate thing about being in the public eye is you get much less breaks because everything is so magnified,” she added.

With you again there, kind of. We’ve all said something regrettable at least once in our lives. But none of us — probably — also starred in Lethal Weapon and Braveheart, so we only have to deal with the fallout among a smaller group of people, most of whom probably care about us and know our character and are therefore more likely to forgive us.

I’m sorry, I keep interrupting. You were saying.

“It’s not like we make any mistakes that other people don’t. It’s just that they’re so public and so explosive and so judgmental too to everything that somebodies [sic] created in their career. But I think forgiveness is one of the best qualities that America has.”

Okay, but here’s the thing. Mel Gibson said he hoped his wife got “raped by a pack of ni–ers,” and said that Jews were resonsible for all the wars in the world. Among other horrible things. Those aren’t explosive statements because he’s famous, they’re explosive because they’re loaded with C-4. Don’t believe me? Go to Starbucks and shout them for a while. If people want to forgive Mel Gibson — and some who know him have, probably for the same reasons you forgive your racist older relatives for things they’ve said — then fine. Go nuts. But you don’t have to do it just bec…

Wait a second. What the hell am I doing? Am I really seriously discussing something Hayden Paniettiere said to a gossip reporter after a boozy awards show? Jeeeeeeeeeesus Mighty.

Here Biggie’s video for “Sky’s the Limit.” I need a minute to re-evaluate some things.

Photo credit: CarlaVanWagoner/Shutterstock

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