Legendary actor Mel Gibson has a way of finding himself in unconventional situations.
The 67-year-old recently made headlines after a photo featuring him and Kari Lake resurfaced online. This pairing caused some form of controversy aside from Gibson’s past because of Lake’s values and history in politics. For context, Lake, who is a part of the Republican Party, was previously running for governor in Arizona, but ultimately lost the race to Democrat Katie Hobbs in November 2022.
Immediately following the defeat, Lake would claim in a lawsuit filed a month later that her loss by 17,000 votes was due to individuals having issues with casting their ballots in various areas, according to NPR. In late December 2022, a judge rejected Lake’s allegations, stating that charges of vote tampering were unsubstantiated by evidence. In recent news, many outlets reported that Lake could be a running mate choice for former U.S. President Donald Trump.
As for Lake’s photo with Gibson, the 53-year-old uploaded the images of the duo on her social media account on March 8, during an outing. Although the exact date of this event is unclear, Lake expressed in the caption how much she enjoys the actor’s films.
She wrote, “Thank God for the creative genius of Mel Gibson. Without him, there would be very few movies for me to enjoy. God Bless you, Mel.” As the photos circulated online, social media users’ opinions regarding the situation were split, with many assuming that Gibson was showing his support for Lake.
When Twitter user @delinthecity_ uploaded the photo on his page, he claimed that the Democratic Party was “triggered” by the images and steering away from more critical issues that are going on in America, including the Jeffrey Epstein list.
Another individual seconded @delinthescity_’s remarks by saying this uproar about Gibson and Lake is just a distraction.
At the same time, when actor George Hahn shared the photo on his Twitter page, many weren’t keen on the pair’s outing.
One person went as far as to suggest that Gibson was still a horrible person given his past, and his outing with Lake showcased that.
Although it is still being determined whether Gibson supports Lake’s issues politically or morally, the mother of two revealed in the past that she had lunch with the actor during her brief visit to California. In October 2022, during her gubernatorial campaign, Lake said, while listing him as her favorite actor,
“He made some of the only films I can stomach anymore because everything’s gone so woke, Mel Gibson… Pinch me! I still can’t believe I sat next to Mel Gibson for lunch. He came to meet me, and I just said, ‘Thank you for making such great movies!’”
Despite the social media frenzy, at this time, Gibson has yet to address the situation or even disclose his political party preference.
