Apologies: a Great Tradition

THE OFFENSE: "F-----g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world... Are you a Jew?"

Actor-Director Mel Gibson's inebriated, anti-Semitic rant to the Malibu cop who stopped his car in the early hours of July 28, 2006 was documented in a police report — which found its way onto the celebrity blog TMZ.com. Already chided for what many saw as the incipient anti-Semitism of his box-office smash The Passion of the Christ, Gibson received almost universal opprobrium, with many in Hollywood threatening never to work with him again. With his new film Apocalypto just months from release, Gibson issued an apology over the ensuing weekend and later checked into alcohol rehab.

THE APOLOGY: "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."