How to identify your true friends

A problem for the rich and famous is differentiating between people who are your "friends" only for their own enrichment from those who are real friends. Well, one way to figure out which ones are true friends is to fall off your pedestal in an embarrassing way. Recently Mel Gibson was arrested for drunk driving and during the arrest he made some very stupid and anti-Semitic comments. Since then, there have been hundreds of articles about Gibson and his comments universally condemning him with some others in his business declaring they would never work with the actor/director again. Today, I saw the first article quoting anyone with any compassion for Gibson.

Actress Jodie Foster has spoken out in defence of Mel Gibson, insisting the actor is "absolutely not" anti-Semite. Ms Foster told the Los Angeles Times that Mr Gibson had "always fought a terrible battle with alcoholism". "Mel is honest, loyal, kind, but alcoholism has been a lifelong struggle for him and his family," she said. "I just wish I had been there, that I had been able to say, 'Don't do it, don't take that drink'." Ms Foster, who starred with Mr Gibson in the film Maverick, said the actor's previous struggles with alcohol provided "a shining example of how low you can go when you are young and still pull yourself up". "He took his recovery very seriously, which is why I know he is strong enough to get through this now."

Jewish movie producer Dean Devlin, who worked with Mr Gibson on the film The Patriot, has also spoken out in defence of the actor. "If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense," he said. "But he is an alcoholic, and while that makes no excuse for what he said, because there is no excuse, I believe it was the disease speaking, not the man."

Lots of people are with you on the way up. Your true friends are with you when you really need them.

My last comment on this is that it is a sad reflection on our priorities that the stupid comments of a drunk driver have been condemned more vociferously than the actual actions of the killer who snuck into a Jewish community center in Seattle and gunned down several people in cold blood.