Fame Brief: Mel Gibson’s Celebrity Goodwill Hunted

In this week’s installment of “What the Hell is Wrong with Mel Gibson?“, our tragic hero took a break from allegedly beating the sh*t out of ex-girlfriend Oksana Glengarryglenrossgrivioa (and following up with typo-ridden text apologies) to hash out his divorce settlement with soon-to-be ex-wife Robyn. The settlement is on track to be the largest divorce payout in Hollywood history, with Robyn to get at least half of the almost $1 billion Mel earned during their 28-year marriage (community property, go go Gadget Family Law class).

But, as with everything Mel-related as of late, there’s a slight problem…

From that trusty rag, TMZ:

But we’re told there are still outstanding issues, including something called “good will.”  It sounds strange, but the good will of a famous person is considered an asset in a marriage — something that has commercial value.  In the past Mel had a lot of good will that translated into being able to make movies that people would pay to see.

But after Mel’s 2006 and 2010 rants, the good will has evaporated if not disappeared.  As a result … the asset has been greatly devalued.

We’re told one of the issues is whether Mel should have to pay Robyn for squandering his good will.

I did some ramshackle internet research, and while other states recognize the concept of celebrity or personal goodwill, apparently California does not, which is odd because you‘re not really a celebrity if you live outside of California. Goodwill in CA divorces is limited to professional practices or businesses. The only way Robyn can argue that Mel’s bigoted diatribes, unhinged voicemails and domestic violence negatively impacted Mel’s goodwill is if she’s referring to the goodwill of his production company, the unfortunately named Icon Productions.  My god, my powers of  legal analysis still astonish me.

In my opinion, Robyn’s fighting a losing battle on the goodwill tip. The notion that people will stop buying licenses from Icon – just because Mel Gibson is associated with it  – is preposterous. People didn’t stop listening to Michael Jackson just because he talked to Martin Bashir from a tree and may have molested children. No place is going is going to stop carrying Braveheart II: This Time It’s Personal The Patriot  just because Mel is a violent misogynist right-wing nutbag bigot narcissist bastard. I mean, have you SEEN Braveheart?  It’s top three, easily. Mel INVENTED the epic battle movie format (innocent family member killed/hero avenges death at any cost/sepia-toned flashbacks/lovable secondary character dies in moving scene/love story crescendo/death of hero); without him we wouldn’t have Gladiator, 300, Robin Hood, and I would have nothing to quote at all. Mel may be a repugnant anti-Semite, but he’s an anti-Semite who made Braveheart.  Hate the player, don’t hate the game.

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Look, if a paralyzing fear of bedbugs couldn’t  keep me from seeing Edge of Darkness ON OPENING NIGHT, I am positive that others feel the same about Mel and won’t punish him or Icon for his revolting personal views.  Sorry, Robyn, but Icon’s goodwill is still intact. Please take your $500 million and go. Mother always said you were greedy.

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