Mel Gibson's ex-wife spoke out in his defence Thursday, just as a new tape was released in which the temperamental actor apparently swore at his former girlfriend for falling asleep instead of servicing him sexually, dpa reported.
Gibson, who is engaged in a bitter custody battle with ex- girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva over their nine-month-old child, has been accused of hitting the Russian singer while she was holding the baby.
But in a declaration to the Los Angeles court overseeing the case, Gibson's former wife Robyn Gibson said that he had never been violent in their marriage of almost 30 years.
"Mel never engaged in any physical abuse of any kind toward me before, during or after our marriage," Robyn Gibson said in the declaration Thursday. "Mel was a wonderful and loving father."
Authorities in Los Angeles are investigating a January incident in which Gibson is alleged to have struck Grigorieva. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that detectives had received copies of several phone conversations in which Gibson allegedly threatened Grigorieva.
The latest tapes released Thursday by the website Radaronline.com allegedly portray Gibson in a crazed tirade in which he swears at Grigorieva for allegedly using him for money, and for failing to perform oral sex on him. According to the website Gibson threatened her with a handgun in the January argument, in which he allegedly struck her and knocked out her tooth.