Winona Ryder opened up about anti-Semitism she's experienced in Hollywood, including a studio head turning her down for a role because she looked "too Jewish."
She explained, "There are times when people have said, ‘Wait, you’re Jewish? But you’re so pretty!’ There was a movie that I was up for a long time ago, it was a period piece, and the studio head, who was Jewish, said I looked ‘too Jewish’ to be in a blue-blooded family."
Winona then detailed an interaction with Mel Gibson, "We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends. And Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we’re all talking and he said to my friend, who’s gay, 'Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?' And then something came up about Jews, and he said, 'You’re not an oven dodger, are you?'"
While Winona said that Gibson tried to apologize later, it's unclear whether this happened before or after his 2006 DUI arrest where he made another anti-Semitic remark, telling the officer, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!" Gibson later addressed the incident, telling Variety in 2016, "It was an unfortunate incident. I was loaded and angry and arrested. I was recorded illegally by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for that crime. And then it was made public by him for profit, and by members of — we’ll call it the press. So, not fair. I guess as who I am, I’m not allowed to have a nervous breakdown, ever."
Source: The Sunday Times
