Gibson a guy they love to hate – and some hate to love

The troubled star – or racist, Tourette's afflicted misogynistic drunk, depending on your point of view – had been hired to add some nudge-nudge comic interplay to the plot of the in-production sequel to last year's hit when he was abruptly let go by director Todd Phillips.

The reason appears to be a protest by bearded comedian Zach Galifianakis, who is alleged to have told producers "either he goes

or I do".

But dumping the veteran heart-throb as he attempts to drag himself from the toilet bowl that is now his career, may backfire for portly Mr Galifianakis. The tide appears to be turning for Gibson as the Hollywood cognoscenti look in more detail at his recent travails.

It cannot be denied that Gibson's alcohol-fuelled rants have caused his demise. What might once have been ignored because it occurred beyond the public gaze has been unceremoniously dumped under a harsh and unforgiving media spotlight.

Gone are the days when all-powerful studio chiefs could cover up piddling little indiscretions like murder, rape, hit-and-run accidents, beatings and drunken brawls. Throw in orgies, racism, anti-Semitism, drugs and stars terrified of revealing their true sexuality, and the true nature of studio machinations becomes apparent. Half a century ago, Gibson could have laid waste to half of California and no-one outside a tiny cabal would ever have known or cared.

Yet, suddenly, Gibson is being spoken of in the same breath as Robert Downey Jr and Mickey Rourke. Both men survived eye-popping career nadirs to return to critical and commercial glory. Maybe Gibson hoped that his cameo as a decadent Bangkok tattoo artist in The Hangover 2 might have been a wary step onto the comeback trail.

He is reported to be "furious" that Phillips caved in to pressure from Galifianakis. Still, Gibson can't expect things to turn around that quickly. There are some in the Los Angeles film community who believe his sins cut too deep to ever be forgiven, and that he should be kept out in the cold.

Hollywood heavyweights have been queuing up to jump ship. Leonardo DiCaprio quit Gibson's Viking project over the summer (though quite how he could have been remotely plausible as a Norse warrior beats me) in protest over Gibson's reputation for domestic abuse.

Others, however, are campaigning for Gibson's healing process to begin. Jodie Foster, his co-star in 1994's Maverick, has called him "the most loved man

in the film business". She's since been dismissed as deluded.

Meanwhile, release plans for her film, The Beaver, starring and directed by her with Gibson as her leading man, have been put on ice.

Mel Gibson may have a while to wait yet before he returns to the fold.