Whoopi Goldberg: Mel Gibson 'Is Not a Racist'

USMagazine, Tuesday, July 13, 2010, 6:56am (PDT)

Mel Gibson has one person defending him in Hollywood. The actor, 54, was allegedly quoted on tape using the "N" word, but Whoopi Goldberg said on "The View" Monday, "I know Mel, and I know he's not a racist."

"I have had a long friendship with Mel. You can say he's being a bonehead, but I can't sit and say that he's a racist having spent time with him in my house with my kids," added Goldberg, 54."I don't like what he's done, make no mistake," she went on. "I'm not defending Mel. I'm simply saying I don't see him as [a racist] because that's not been my experience with him."

On Monday, new explosive audio was released by RadarOnline.com in which Gibson allegedly admits to hitting ex Oksana Grigorieva while she held their 8-month-old daughter, Lucia. On June 21, Grigorieva filed a restraining order against Gibson, alleging that he punched her in the face and knocked out her teeth Jan. 6. A Gibson source tells Us Weekly: "They got into it, but he absolutely did not injure her."

He then turned around and filed his own restraining order against Grigorieva, prohibiting her from speaking about certain aspects of their case.They are both due in court July 20 over the restraining order.

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