Mel Gibson’s Rep Confirms He Was Hospitalized With Coronavirus

It’s perhaps surprising that this news didn’t come out at the time, but apparently Academy Award winner Mel Gibson contracted the coronavrius back in April. Not only did he catch COVID-19 at some point, but the actor’s condition was bad enough for him to be hospitalized for a week in a Los Angeles hospital. A representative for the actor told The Daily Telegraph today, “He tested positive in April and spent a week in the hospital. He was treated with the drug Remdesivir, while in the hospital, and has tested negative numerous times since then as well as positive for the antibodies.”

Gibson is the latest in a long list of celebrities that have confirmed that they contracted the virus. Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were very publicly the first celebrities to reveal their diagnosis, arriving on the same night that the NBA suspended their season and cementing the reality and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in most of the US populace. Others that have been diagnosed with and recovered from the coronavirus are Fast and Furious star Idris Elba, Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim, Grammy Winner Pink, and disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein (who caught it while serving time in prison). The virus has also spread into political figures with Boris Johnson in the UK and Senator Rand Paul in the US among the positive cases in government.

No stranger to controversy, Gibson made headlines again earlier this year when Stranger Things star Winona Ryder alleged that he made anti-semitic comments to her while at a party. Ryder has told the story in the press as far back as 2010, Gibson’s representatives denied the story.

After this latest story though it was revealed that Gibson won’t be reprising his part for the highly anticipated Chicken Run sequel from Aardman Animation. Variety reported that the news of his encounter with Ryder or his other past behavioural issues had “nothing to do” with him not returning for the follow-up, but that “the sequel will revolve around younger chickens, therefore casting younger voice actors.”

Since directing the Academy Award nominated Hacksaw Ridge Gibson has become attached to a number of projects but few have come to fruition. He previously announced development on a sequel to his 2004 feature film The Passion of the Christ. Gibson has since starred in films like Force of Nature, The Professor and the Madman, and Dragged Across Concrete.

(Cover photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)