# Mel Gibson dials it up to 11 with new telephone recording. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490 "2010-07-13T03:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/521 "2010-07-19T21:30:09Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Are you suuuuuuuuure about that? Absolutely, positively sure about that? He is. He doesn’t (anymore). ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/522 "2010-07-19T21:31:38Z")
> [@villa](#): > > I am not a family lawyer, but I am pretty damn certain that the payer of the child support can demand an accounting of the support to ensure that it goes for the child’s benefit. > > Now, child’s benefit is broader than some here (who seem to view the aim of the process as being to punish their ex rather than support their child) would have you believe. A court probably won’t see it in the interest of the child that the custodial parent is forced to only repair the roof over the child’s bedroom, leaving the parent’s bedroom full of leaks, and that the child should be well fed while the custodial parent must survive off trash pickings… I am also not a family lawyer and really don’t know any better, but this is not what I was taught. It’s my understanding (and a quick Google/Wikipedia check backs this up) that accounting procedures are the exception rather than the rule. If you have a cite I’d love to see it, but maybe you’re in a state that follows the exception? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/523 "2010-07-19T21:38:01Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > He is. He doesn’t (anymore). Lucky for him, good ol’ Google caches things- ya know, in case he wants to get in contact with that impostor/ alternate universe Scummy who: is also from his city in PA, has the same hobbies, has the same education background, has the same job, has the same physical ailments, is married to a foreigner from the same country, and has a bird with the same name! What are the freaking odds of that? I’m too fat to figure it out, but I’m sure it’s probably EXTREMELY unlikely. Notice that his rage-filled rantings immediately stopped once he got called out on lying about something so stupid. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/524 "2010-07-19T21:51:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **jtgain** , so you honestly wouldn’t say a word about a man who’s a millionaire just paying the bare minimum of child support while he’s out gallivanting off to big time parties and living a lavish lifestyle? You don’t think he should share that with his own child? :dubious: Morally I think he should, but why does the law only require it if he is separated/divorced from the mother of the child? Mom and Dad could leave the kid with a nanny while traveling the seven seas and the law doesn’t care. Why do divorced people need to come under the umbrella of the state? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/525 "2010-07-19T21:53:12Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > No, the custodial parent does not have to itemize and submit to the court or anybody else what the child support money goes for. Is the child housed, fed, and clothed? Then obviously money went to those things. Yes. All 30 grand per month went to housing, food, and clothing (according to the court) and if the man complains one bit, then that obviously means that he is trying to skip out on his obligation to care for his child. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/526 "2010-07-19T21:55:06Z")
It is against the law not to provide for one’s child during marriage, too, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/527 "2010-07-19T21:58:39Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Yes. All 30 grand per month went to housing, food, and clothing (according to the court) and if the man complains one bit, then that obviously means that he is trying to skip out on his obligation to care for his child. 😕 It’s hard to feel sympathy for a man that can afford $30,000 a month in child support so excuse me while I try to muster up some tears because he has support his own child. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/528 "2010-07-19T22:03:23Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > It is against the law not to provide for one’s child during marriage, too, you know. Right, but as has been pointed out in this thread, during marriage, “providing for one’s child” means basic food, shelter, clothing. Not a percentage of income. > [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > It’s hard to feel sympathy for a man that can afford $30,000 a month in child support so excuse me while I try to muster up some tears because he has support his own child. Wow. I’m dizzy from all of that circular talk. Bottom line: It does not cost $30,000 per month to support a child. While there are more sympathetic figures out there, it still is not fair from a legal standpoint to make anyone pay that figure and call it “child support”. It is far in excess of what is required to support that child. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/529 "2010-07-19T22:05:01Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Wow. I’m dizzy from all of that circular talk. Bottom line: It does not cost $30,000 per month to support a child. While there are more sympathetic figures out there, it still is not fair from a legal standpoint to make anyone pay that figure and call it “child support”. It is far in excess of what is required to support that child. Like I asked our friend **Scumpup** earlier- exactly how much is appropriate then? And remember: a child of a celebrity may very well need security, to go to private school, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/530 "2010-07-19T22:06:00Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Right, but as has been pointed out in this thread, during marriage, “providing for one’s child” means basic food, shelter, clothing. Not a percentage of income. > > Wow. I’m dizzy from all of that circular talk. Bottom line: It does not cost $30,000 per month to support a child. While there are more sympathetic figures out there, it still is not fair from a legal standpoint to make anyone pay that figure and call it “child support”. It is far in excess of what is required to support that child. But if one lives a lavish, wealthy lifestyle, why should one’s child be deprived of the same lifestyle, just because you and the mother are not together any more? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/531 "2010-07-19T22:07:25Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > He deleted it? Priceless! > > What a shitbag. First he dishes out childish insults based on looks then, when called out for being not so hot himself, he lies about it not being his page. Less than 24 hours later he deletes the page. > > Good stuff. Having looked at that page, I have to say that he was wise to remove it, not because of his lying about not having a page and then removing it, but rather simply because of the way he looked on the photos on that site. Scumpup: a misogynist, a liar, and hard on the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/532 "2010-07-19T22:14:11Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Scumpup: a misogynist, a liar, and hard on the eyes. But hey,he’s not fat. He’s got that on me, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/533 "2010-07-19T23:11:15Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > If the gold-digging is really completely unrelated to the abuse, why are so many people talking about it when the only actual news is about the abuse? How did that happen? Isn’t there anything else about this woman worth speculating about for no reason at all that has anything to do with the fact that there’s a tape of her being abused? Again, sure, it’s possible that a person who wants to focus on her motivations in the relationship has no desire to mitigate the extent of the wrong done to her, but it sure doesn’t seem likely. Well I think normally people would be going after all her slutty outfits and plastic surgery to dehumanize her, but Mel pretty much covered all that. > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Like I asked our friend **Scumpup** earlier- exactly how much is appropriate then? And remember: a child of a celebrity may very well need security, to go to private school, etc. Exactly. It’s a crazy amount, but exists in the same sphere as getting $25 million to do a movie,[paying $14.5 million for a single home](http://www.luxist.com/2010/03/06/mel-gibsons-lavender-hill-farm/), or a $15 for a movie ticket. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/534 "2010-07-19T23:15:33Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Exactly. It’s a crazy amount, but exists in the same sphere as getting $25 million to do a movie,[paying $14.5 million for a single home](http://www.luxist.com/2010/03/06/mel-gibsons-lavender-hill-farm/), or a $15 for a movie ticket. [Or $15 million for your own island.](http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1262008.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/535 "2010-07-19T23:41:00Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Right, but as has been pointed out in this thread, during marriage, “providing for one’s child” means basic food, shelter, clothing. Not a percentage of income. > > Wow. I’m dizzy from all of that circular talk. Bottom line: It does not cost $30,000 per month to support a child. While there are more sympathetic figures out there, it still is not fair from a legal standpoint to make anyone pay that figure and call it “child support”. It is far in excess of what is required to support that child. Oh boo hoo. Poor, poor Mel. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/536 "2010-07-19T23:54:33Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh boo hoo. Poor, poor Mel. :rolleyes: You know it isn’t about the money. Its about finding out the person you loved and thought loved you actually doesn’t love you, but instead took you for a chump and now she has her hooks into you legally for the next 18 years. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/537 "2010-07-19T23:59:56Z")
Really? You think he loved her? Nobody make him stick his dick and her, and financial support is a right which belongs to the child, not the mother. I don’t see why a man should even have to force to support his own kids. Shouldn’t they do it because they love them? Why do so many men act like their children are just shit on their shoe that they can’t get rid of? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/538 "2010-07-20T00:30:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Well I think normally people would be going after all her slutty outfits and plastic surgery to dehumanize her, but Mel pretty much covered all that. Yeah, and the very first reply to this thread grunted that particular grunt, actually. I was going to be a good sport and not bring that up until I got an answer, though. I think we’ve all been there, **Dutchman**. You love her with all your heart, you punch the shit out of her and bellow and hoot and demean her to show you how _crrrraaazzzy_ she makes you, and is it enough? Is that enough? Fuck and no, it isn’t. She goes and consorts with the type of bitch who… I’m not sure. Makes eyes at you and would blow you in a second. What the fuck is that about? And then when you tell her you’ll put her in the rose garden because of something about a jacuzzi or something, and remind her that she knows you’re capable of it, what does that fucking tramp do? _What does she do?_ [QUOTE=jtgain] Right, but as has been pointed out in this thread, during marriage, “providing for one’s child” means basic food, shelter, clothing. Not a percentage of income. [/QUOTE] Eh. You’re thinking of it backward. Until the breadwinner runs out on the family, or terrorizes the mother of his children, or whatever, the state doesn’t get involved in his family’s lives - don’t abuse the kid and we don’t need to know. So sure, it’s possible to spend much less money on a kid if you’re actually, you know, _there_. Once pops skips town, suddenly the law is forced to get involved because some significant proportion of dads are deadbeats. So what’s the law supposed to say, welcome to the soup kitchen because it turns out the fuckface who sired you, kids, and who knocked you up, mom, is a fuckface? Remember, the law has to apply evenhandedly across the board. _You_ come up with a mathematical formula that can be readily applied to thousands upon thousands of families with relatively little manpower to enforce it. Child support law’s not some kind of elaborate scheme cooked up in the back rooms by a secret misogynist conspiracy; it’s a necessary reaction to the epidemic of deadbeats creating problems and running from them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/539 "2010-07-20T00:31:06Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Really? You think he loved her? > > Nobody make him stick his dick and her, and financial support is a right which belongs to the child, not the mother. > > I don’t see why a man should even have to force to support his own kids. Shouldn’t they do it because they love them? Why do so many men act like their children are just shit on their shoe that they can’t get rid of? You do realize the Mel has supported far more kids than you have, And even more than that indirectly through his philanthropy. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490/540 "2010-07-20T00:36:17Z")
Not misandrist, not not misogynist. I mean, neither one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mel-gibson-dials-it-up-to-11-with-new-telephone-recording/546490.md?page=28)