As Robert Downey Jr. accepted an American Cinematheque Award on Friday night, the actor used his time on stage to ask Hollywood to forgive Mel Gibson.
Downey Jr. has always credited Gibson, who was warned about hiring him, for being the first person to give him a job when he was battling substance abuse.
"Unless you are without sin -- and if you are, you are in the wrong f--king industry -- you should forgive him and let him work," he said.
"He taught my many things, and I will use the 'C' word -- courage. There's nothing so much wrong with him. Of course you have to worry about the guy making the judgment here. He's a good dude with a good heart."
"Mel and I have the same lawyer, same publicist, and same shrink. I couldn't get hired and he cast me." he explained.
"He said if I accepted responsibility -- he called it hugging the cactus -- long enough, my life would take meaning. And if he helped me, I would help the next guy. But it was not reasonable to expect the next guy would be him."
Gibson, who became notorious after his anti-Semitic rant, was dropped from 'The Hangover' sequel after castmembers objected following a string of leaked recordings that caught the actor yelling offensive remarks at ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.
As Robert Downey Jr. accepted an American Cinematheque Award on Friday night, the actor used his time on stage to ask Hollywood to forgive Mel Gibson.
