Mel Gibson's cameo as a thailand tattoo artist has been cut from Hangover 2 as a result of a near mutiny from the cast & crew.
The enigma that is Zach Galifianakis recently complained about the franchise which launched/created his career, publicly airing his grievances during a Comedy-Deathray Podcast stating:
"I'm not the boss. I'm in a deep protest right now with a movie I'm working on, up in arms about something. But I can't get the guys to [listen] ... I'm not making any leeway."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Gibson casting "triggered an internal backlash at the studio and on the film set." In the meantime director Todd Phillips has stated in reference to Gibson's involvement:
"I thought Mel would have been great in the movie and I had the full backing of [Warner Bros. president] Jeff Robinov and his team. But I realize filmmaking is a collaborative effort, and this decision ultimately did not have the full support of my entire cast and crew."
So Gibson, the former Hollywood A-list star of the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films as well as the Oscar-winning Braveheart, has damaged his reputation over anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments he's made. He was back in the headlines again this summer when he became embroiled in a much-publicized domestic violence investigation and custody battle with former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva over the couple's infant daughter. After the release of offensive voicemail messages, purportedly of Gibson screaming at his ex-girlfriend, his talent agency dropped him as a client. The Beaver, a dark drama starring Gibson and directed by longtime friend Jodie Foster, also appears to have been indefinitely shelved amid the latest scandal.
Update:
Liam Neeson is replacing Mel Gibson in the cameo role as a
tattoo artist.
“I just got a call to do a one day shoot on ‘Hangover 2’
as a tattooist in Thailand, and that’s all I know about it,” Neeson told Variety.
“I just laughed my leg off when I saw ‘The Hangover,’ I was shooting in Berlin
earlier this year and rented it on the hotel TV.”
